Fixing a Broken Future
by Oh Please
Summary: Her world is dead, her family and friends gone. 24 year old Miaka rewrites her story with Suzaku's blessings so she can go back and correct the mistakes she made before. Travelling with Chichiri is fun, but it hurts to change her past.
1. Chapter 1

Miaka sat with her back against the low bed. Her face was drawn and pale. Vacant eyes stared out the scratched window at the fiery sunset. Scorching winds moaned past the pane of glass and rattled it in the frame. In her peripheral vision, part of her mind noticed that the white sheet covering the figures on the bed behind her were stained red from the dying of the day.

She ran a scarred hand over her bangs to move them out of her eyes as she tried not to think about reality. "I miss the sound of birds. . . and traffic. . . and kids playing." Then the moving hand flopped into her lap to smooth the wrinkles of the blood stained shirt she still wore. Her mind shifted a moment and she wondered, "How long has it been?"

The room reverted to silence as the howling wind momentarily died. Her ears rang in the silence. She began talking into the quiet to fill in the space. "I need to clean these windows. Mom would fuss if she saw the condition of my home. I wonder what I should fix for dinner." She turned her head to look at the lumpy bed behind her. "What would you guys like?"

Although there was no response, her face broke into a twisted smile. She reached out a shaky arm and ran her hand over the dark hair peeking out from under the sheet. She twirled a finger around a lock of his precious hair before moving over to the reddish brown hair peeking out next to his. Her family lay on the little bed with a sheet respectfully covering their lifeless bodies. Her face fell back into the blank stare as she struggled up to her feet and leaned over to kiss the sheet where their foreheads would be. As she straightened up her eyes drifted to the red bound book that rested on the chest of her beloved. Anger sparked hotly through her veins, flushing her face red as she snatched up the book.

Thoughts raced through her mind like leaves in a storm. "Why did the book show up? The story was over and it vanished after their last trip through to Konan. It shouldn't be here." She shuffled over to the desk that lined the wall opposite from the somber bed. Outside, the horrible winds had resumed their tortured attack against her home.

She had lost track of how many days it had been since the world had perished. It wasn't just "her" world that had ended with the dying of her husband and daughter. They were part of the collective world population that had died on the same day. Everyone that she knew was gone, except herself. Again she asked out loud, "Why am I still here? Why didn't I die with them? Is it because of the book?" Tears coursed down the well traveled paths down her cheeks as she screeched, "I want to be with THEM!" As the sound echoed out of existence in the still room, she slumped dejectedly onto her squeaky desk chair.

With a sense of reverence, she placed the red book on the desk surface before her and caressed the title on the cover. This was the book of the Universe of the Four Gods that had transported her into the past 9 years before. The past where she had met the seven Suzaku warriors and her beloved Tamahome. She held her breath and gently opened the book in the middle. Part of her was afraid that if she began reading the book at the beginning, the book might awaken. Lovingly, she traced the images on the illustrated pages of her adventures in Konan. She lingered over the ink drawing of Tamahome and the others. Remembering a keepsake she still cherished, she leaned over and pulled the framed Polaroid of the group off a shelf and placed it on top of the page. They were all there in vivid color, as lively as they had been when she met them. Half the group had been deceased when she returned to her world. Now, even more were gone. Her voice was subdued as she whispered, "Hi guys. It's been a long time. You wouldn't believe what's going on now." And then her mind shut down.

Minutes and hours crawled by as the broken girl stared at the place where the picture should be. It had grown so dark that nothing was visible. But she didn't notice. There was no life in her eyes and her thoughts ran away like timid, frightened mice.

As awareness filtered back into her mind, she noticed odd things, like how scratchy her eyes felt. Had she not closed them, or blinked in days? She felt the coldness that had crawled up her body as the day's heat had dissipated back out into space. She felt a cold, hollow feeling under her ribs and assumed, vaguely, that this was hunger. She continued sitting at her desk in the dark. There were no lights she could turn on, since there was no electricity running through the wires anymore. She would not raise herself up to find a candle or flashlight. There was no point. There was nothing to see. No reason to get up. She also could not let herself rest. She kept her lonely vigil near the bodies of her loved ones. If she had the strength, she would have carried Keisuke, Tetsuya and Yui to her home to lie in state with Tamahome and Hikari. But her strength had given out quickly, a side effect of the global devastation.

Somehow, the protective layer of atmosphere, that prevented the harmful rays of the sun from reaching the tender population of the planet, had been blown away by a massive explosion. She didn't know if it was natural, man-made, or god-created, but the end result was the same. The instantaneous death of all life on the planet. Well, not "all" life. She was still there, living in the hellish aftermath. Her only company was the bodies of her family and the book.

She was still unable to see even her hand before her face, but she could feel the age-worn pages of the book where she had opened the story. Her story. Tamahome's story. The Suzaku seven's story. Painful memories sparked in her head which drove her further into her own mind. Time passed.

The terrible sun began to lighten the sky for another day of destruction. Her teeth chattered in the silence of the bone-chilling dawn. She had not slept. Her body had leaned forward and her head slumped over towards the book. Her unrestrained hair actually framed her face and created a tunnel down towards the book. Unseeing eyes stared blankly at the image on the paper.

She felt a tickle on her face and her mind stirred slightly at the sensation. With child-like curiosity, she raised a hand to her face. It was warm and wet. She saw the color of blood as she raised her hand even with her eyes. Blood? In confusion, she dropped her hand onto the book and wondered about this development. A small drop of blood descended from the edge of her upper lip and landed on the page of writing, opposite from the image of her friends.

This sudden blob of color startled her into sitting upright. It leeched into the fibers of the page and turned a deep reddish black color, not too different from the color of the ancient ink that magically appeared on the pages. She reached over to the box of tissues to stem the tide of blood flowing from her nose.

Her mind sifted through random thoughts, comparing the colors on the page. Was this ink actually blood? How odd. But then, what more would you expect from a magical book that wrote the story as she lived it.

Just for comparison, she reached into the top drawer of her desk and withdrew an ink pen. Cautiously, she touched the pen to the paper of the book and made a small mark. There was a flash of red and the line vanished. She hummed a thoughtful sound and reached back into her desk drawer for a pencil. She repeated the process and achieved the same result. Then she dug her calligraphy pen out of her letter writing supplies and dipped the pen into the sepia ink and touched it to the page. Still nothing. On a whim, she touched the quill pen to the spot of blood and dragged a line across the bottom of the page. She waited for the flash and vanishing act, but nothing happened. It remained. She dipped the quill pen into the wet stain again, and crossed the mark to create a letter. Something tingled in her chest as she waited for it to vanish. As it remained, a new feeling blossomed within her. Was it hope she felt?

She waited for ages as strange things flowed into her brain. She could write on the book? Would her words change the story? If she could change events, what would she change? She glanced over to the bodies on her bed. Could this be why she was still alive, and the book suddenly reappeared. Her fevered mind grasped this thought and ran with it. She pulled out a notepad and opened the story to the end of the book and began writing down ideas of the result she wanted to achieve, and worked her way back through the story noting things that would have to change to reach that goal.

It was days later that her eyes began to blur as she reached the beginning of her saga in Konan. She had studiously listed the instances that she needed to change and the ways that the story needed to proceed. She had outlined the story with a parallel story that she wanted to see. Page after rejected page scattered about her in crumpled heaps. She stood and stretched her legs and stumbled into the kitchen. Although she no longer felt hunger, it occurred to her that if she was to really carry out her plan, she didn't need to faint from lack of food. She cautiously nibbled on some saltine crackers to settle her stomach. While she was dropping cracker crumbs all over the floor, she went to her knife block and withdrew the sharpest knife of the set. She stepped back to her desk and set the knife and box of crackers next to the book. One more trip to the kitchen found her returning with a glass of water and a bottle of rubbing alcohol.

She returned to her sitting position at the desk and ate as many crackers as her stomach could hold, which weren't many. She glanced at the bed and could almost hear Tamahome's voice teasing her about not eating like a starving dog as was her usual manner. Then, she thought she could hear her little Hikari begging for a cracker like Mommy. A ghost of a smile traced across her lips and she wondered about her own sanity.

She turned back to the book and realized that this might not work. In all truthfulness, it probably was a waste of time. But, what else did she have but time? If it didn't work, then at least she would be closer to joining her family in the afterlife. She didn't feel really ill now, but somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized that the radiation that the sun was bathing the unprotected Earth with would eventually destroy her body. She only felt tired and nauseous and that could be a side effect of something else, such as not eating for a week or so.

With determination shining in her eyes, she cleaned the tip of the quill pen and the blade of the knife with the alcohol. It wouldn't do to put this much effort into changing the past to only succumb to infection. Then, she eyed her left hand and gripped the knife and passed it over the pad of her thumb. The cold pain that sliced through her hand drew a gasp from her lips. "Damn! I forgot that fingers had more nerves than anywhere on the body." Red blood slowly formed a liquid ball on the surface of her thumb before it grew and slid down her hand. "Hm, I think I cut too deep." Then she grasped the quill pen and dipped the end in the trickle of blood on her thumb and turned to the first page of the book.

She chewed on her lip and instead of starting at the beginning; she skipped several lines and started in the middle of the paragraph where her new story would begin. She had thought about what might occur if she started right at the beginning. When she and Yui had read the first page of the book, it had triggered their pull into the world of the book. Fear tickled her stomach that if she started at the beginning, the book would pull her back in before she had even written anything, and the old story would simply replay to the same ends. So, to prevent that possibility, she left out the first sentence of her story and would not write it in until she was finished. Her writing was not as beautiful as the ancient writing of the original story, but she scratched her parallel story between the lines of text.

It was slow and tedious writing in this manner. She could not write anywhere as swiftly as she could if she used a rolling ball point pen. This method of inking with her own blood had two drawbacks. The first drawback was that she had to dip the quill pen after every two letters. The second drawback was the fact that eventually, her cuts would scab over to the point where even squeezing the digit could not produce enough blood to dip the pen into. At that point, she had to open a new wound on another part of her left hand.

She was swiping the knife over the pad of her pinky when she snorted at a realization. When she was done, it was going to look like her hand had been attacked by a feral cat. Up until this time, she had not been very careful with the incisions. They ran in every conceivable direction. Now that she realized just how long a process she was undertaking, and how many cuts she was going to have to endure, she decided to be a bit more uniform about them. She would start each new cut running in the same direction, so the subsequent cuts could run parallel and close by. This would allow her to use the most of the skin surface on her hand. For some reason, she was leery about making cuts anywhere else on her wrists or arms. It sounded too much like the problem some of her school mates had; "cutting."

Days stretched as she worked more carefully on this project than anything she had ever done in her entire life. She meticulously crossed off every line of events on her notepad as she carefully crafted the story to meet her goal. The only time she rose from the desk was when she felt sick to her stomach and in need of more crackers or water. When the dark and cold set in, she lit one of her remaining candles and continued working feverishly into the night. At one point, she was startled to find herself waking up with her head resting on her arm which was draped over the precious book. She didn't mean to fall asleep, but had to assume that her body had taken the choice out of her hands. She didn't need to become so sleep deprived that she would begin hallucinating, or worse yet, leaving parts out of her parallel story. So, she made a promise to the bodies of her beloved family that she would rest from time to time to keep her mind clear and her determination firm.

She finally wrote the wonderful, loving ending of her parallel story. Hope flickered in her as she watched the last letter written in her blood dry and turn a dark brown. She had no idea if she had crossed into the realm of insanity but she knew she must prepare and pack for the eventuality that this worked. She shifted her weak legs to lift her to a standing position and felt the room spin. The blood rushed away from her face, and she felt cold and clammy as she stood. "No! I can't pass out now. I have too much to do. I can change all this. I have to do this for my family!" And she gripped the edge of the desk with white, shaking fingers as she tried to hang on to consciousness.

Finally, the room settled and she felt like herself again. With a sigh of relief, she moved carefully to her closet and withdrew a sturdy travel duffle. She loaded it with the supplies she would need on a camping trip. Then she added some bottles of water and enough non-perishable food to last a week. She didn't know how long her journey would take before she could rely on someone else for provisions.

She reached back into her closet and withdrew a small fanny pack that she used to use when her little family would go to the park and outings. She emptied this bag onto the desk and smiled at the memorabilia from happier times. A movie ticket stub fell out from the first movie they had seen as a family. A sticker that they had received from a street carnival they had attended. Little candy wrappers fluttered to the wooden surface. One always had to bring snacks when traveling with a toddler.

A melancholy smile graced her chapped lips as she gently touched each little treasure and remembered. Hopefully, when this was all over, she would still have all these precious memories, but more to follow after them. She wanted to change the past and present, but she didn't want to lose the knowledge of what had been. She had made a point to write that into the story. She would retain the memories of her past at this moment, even if she interacted with her younger self in a way that changed her past and ended her existence. She had written that clause into the story for all the Suzaku warriors. They would remember their lives and times just as they had up until now, but then the new, changed adventures would be added to their collective memories once she was successful.

The fanny pack would house her precious treasures from this time to carry with her into the book. Assuming that her hard work these past weeks had been successful. If not, then she would just sit in the gathering cold of her home, and wait for death to reunite her with all her friends and family that had gone on before.

She carefully replaced all the treasures that had fallen on the desktop. Then she moved about her home, adding to the little keepsakes. She removed her picture of the Suzaku Seven from the glass lined picture frame, and placed it carefully in the bag. She looked up to her shelf of meaningful possessions, and added a small plaster cat figurine that Tamahome bought her for their first anniversary of meeting in this world. The little cat looked exactly like Tama from the past. She then removed two more pictures from their protective frames to add to the bag. One was from their wedding day with all their friends around them. The other was the first picture of their family on the day that their daughter was born. Tears welled up in her eyes and made everything swim out of focus.

She placed the little bag down on the desk, and moved to a different task. With a pair of scissors in her hand, she crept towards the two sheet draped figures on the bed. She knelt on the floor beside their precious heads, and reached out to grasp the dark hair of her husband. With shaking hands, she snipped off a lock of his lovely dark hair and wondered at how different it felt without his warmth. Then, with a sob lodged in her throat, she repeated the process on the lovely dark hair of her daughter. She reverently carried these reminders to her desk and sat heavily. All she could do for the longest time was sit there and stare at the shanks of hair grasped in her fingers. With a sigh, she carefully laid them out on the desk, and retrieved some ribbon she had saved in a bottom drawer. She kept all sorts of lovely scraps in her bottom drawer. For some reason, she knew she would find uses for them in the future.

She carefully wrapped each bundle of hair with a rubber band, then a shining length of ribbon. These were placed in a special compartment of her bag and she moved on to the next task. She removed more rubber bands from her drawer, and pulled off the red hair ribbon that was entwined in her hair. She had thought about this long and hard over the weeks that she had created her parallel story, and then transcribed it onto the pages of the book. She brought the scissors up to her own hair, and began hacking off large hunks of hair. She cut her hair even with her jaw line. It would be about as short as Yui's hair back in middle school, before their adventure had begun. She placed the shorn hair on the desk, and began to bundle the longer shanks in rubber bands and ribbons. She was not exactly sure how this was supposed to be useful in the parallel story, but she thought it might be, so she was leery of not performing this act. She retrieved a small bag from another drawer, and gently placed these bundles of hair in the bag. This then was placed into the fanny pack with the other important items.

"What else would she need?" She wondered aloud. Knowing she would not have a chance to retrieve items later, she sat at her desk and let her mind drift over the stories of the past and present and possible future. A dark thought annoyed her. What if only part of the story was changed? She needed a back up plan. A plan B. She pulled the notepad back over to her work space, and began writing detailed letters to each of her warriors. If she couldn't change the past, then maybe, one of the others could. She even wrote letters to people she barely knew in Konan if they could somehow influence her friends.

She placed each letter in its own envelope from her lovely stationary set, and carefully crafted each name on the front. She wanted these to reflect her love and admiration for the recipients, since this might be the last thing of hers that they would receive. These were added to the contents of the bag, and she felt as if she had everything she needed. Just to be on the safe side, she ripped the pages of her outline for the parallel story out of her notepad, and added it to the full fanny pack. It would be just like her to go back to change things then forget exactly what events she was supposed to change. A self-deprecating smile cracked her face as she took a deep breath and slowly released it.

Again, she found herself just sitting at her desk, staring off into space. The world outside her window resembled a desert more than a thriving city. Dust blew along the streets where the cars and people should have been. It made her think of an old Wild, Wild West movie, minus the horses and cowboys. She knew she was stalling. This might be the last time she would ever be here in her home again. This might also be the last moment of her insanity, and she would wake up to realize that all she had done was deface an ancient book while waiting for the end of the world to catch up to her. Doubts crept around her like jackals on a kill. Did she remember everything? Would her edited story change anything? Had she written enough? What if the book wanted to write more? That thought made her wonder. She, Yui, Keisuke and Tetsuya had all witnessed the book writing the story as they read the pages. She thought about it and decided she would place a bit of blood at the bottom of each page on the off chance that the book wanted more "ink" to add parts that she had not considered.

She took up the knife again, and searched her torn hand for a place to draw enough blood to add to each page. She started at the back of the book again, afraid to jump start the story before she was prepared. Finally, she just decided to cut straight down the center of her thumb, crossing over dozens of other scabs in the process. It hurt worse than all the other cuts, because the skin was already so tortured. Blood flowed quickly, and she set to work to not waste any of the precious "ink." Half way through the book, her thumb stopped bleeding, and she repeated the process on her index finger. This continued for an hour. She did not realize there were so many pages to this infernal book. Her left hand was throbbing with constant pain by the time she reached the first page of the book.

The first page of the book stared up at her from the desk. She refused to place any extra blood on this page. The book might fill in the one sentence she had left out of her writings as protection to prevent any unexpected beginning of the tale. She rose one last time from her desk with the scissors and again retrieved small hairs from Tamahome's head and Hikari's head. She somehow thought that these would link her with this world. Hadn't their school uniforms linked her and Yui when they had been separated in the worlds on either side of the book? Hadn't Suboshi used Yui's uniform tie to transfer across to their world? Hadn't Tamahome used her hair ribbon to make the same journey? So, if she failed miserably, she could still use the hair to traverse the distance back to her home. She lovingly placed the two clumps of hair in the crease between the first and second pages.

She stood up and strapped on the full fanny pack, and reached over with her uninjured right hand to collect the duffle back to sling it over her shoulder. She checked her clothes. They were not too futuristic to draw attention to herself, but they were slightly traditional, and comfortable. She wore her plainest walking shoes. It wouldn't be good to wear fancy, mulit-colored cross-training sneakers that would single her out as a foreigner and possible spy. Life was simple in Konan. She had worn their clothing before, and knew what would let her blend with the inhabitants. Finally, she was ready.

Sucking in a breath to steady herself and ratchet up her determination, she grasped the quill pen for the last time. The blood on her finger had not stopped yet, so she dipped the pen in and began the first sentence.

"**The former priestess of Suzaku from the future, opened the book and began reading the story that took place around the story involving her younger self. She recognized the strange red light that symbolized the power of Suzaku and felt the familiar pull as the book transported her to Konan." **

Then she dropped the quill pen and placed her bloody finger across the length of the bottom of the page. Her heart began racing as she closed the cover of the book, and counted to three, then opened it again to the beginning. She cautiously scanned the older line of text on the page, then began reading her newly written story from between the lines. The familiar red light erupted from the book, and she felt a sharp, tearing pain in her chest. With a cry of shock and pain, she was pulled into the in between world of the book.

As she was floating in this place, she heard the shrill call of Suzaku, and saw the powerful red Phoenix swoop down to inspect her. It occurred to her that this was something she had not written. Her voice echoed through the space as she tried to justify her presence to the deity.

"I have come to change events that have lead to the utter destruction of the world in my time. Mighty Suzaku, who protects both worlds from evil, I humbly ask that you grant me the strength to complete this task."

The piercing red eyes glared into her very soul for a moment. She was weighed and measured, and then the deity nodded his head and spoke.

"**Former Priestess of Suzaku, I have witnessed the destruction of which you speak. Know you that you are the first to every attempt to bend the will of the Universe of Four Souls to your bidding. Since you are so pure of heart and intention I will grant you the right of summoning in the mortal realm. Know this that you will feel the pain of each change in your past, though you will remain as you are until you return to your world." **

And with those enlightening words, the great phoenix sparkled with power and flew away into the void.

Miaka opened her eyes and felt the grit of dirt against her face. She could smell the soil beneath her along with other scents of the city. Cautiously, she raised her head to peer around at her surroundings. It looked like an alley from the closeness of the building walls, and the lack of direct sunlight. She pushed up with her shaky arms into a sitting position and smiled like a loon. It had worked. It had actually worked! She was in Konan again.

She felt around with her hands to check for the presence of her fanny pack and her travel bag. Both had successfully made the trip with her. She felt the weight of the past weeks slip off her shoulders like a heavy burden being dropped to the floor. She was no longer helpless to prevent the destruction. She had a chance to correct the mistakes of the past. To right the regrets that had haunted her for the past nine years. To save her world and her family and friends. Just thinking about her friends, she felt a thrill of elation as she realized she would get to see all her warriors alive again! Even if it was only from a distance, it would be more than she deserved.

Cautiously, so as not to attract any undue attention, she slowly made her way to the entrance of the alley. If she remembered her writing correctly, she had placed her landing point in Konan to be one block away from the palace gates on the day the younger Miaka, Nuriko and Chichiri all left on their quest to gather the other warriors of the Suzaku seven. This was the first time that she realized that she didn't exactly remember the story she had crafted as clearly as she would have thought she would. Surely, since she had spent so many days first planning the story, and then transcribing the story in her own blood ink, it would be fresh and clear in her mind. But, the exact details were a bit fuzzy, like a dream she had just awoken from and was trying to remember before it vanished away. Strange.

As she slipped up to a barrel that partially blocked the view of the alley, she glanced around to see the gates of the palace. She propped herself up on a smaller barrel behind the larger ones so she could rest and watch the proceedings. She didn't have to wait long before she viewed her younger self leave with her friends. Still, she remained where she was a little longer to give them enough time to be a great distance away before she made her first move. She had to get in to see Hotohori before Chichiri made it back to take his place as an illusionary emperor.

After the sun was firmly up in the sky, she stood from her comfortable barrel seat. Brushing her self off, she took a step towards the palace. It had been so long since she had seen Hotohori. It had been even longer since she had seen him alive. Oh, how she missed her friends from the past. So, with a sense of longing and anticipation, she presented herself to the guards at the gate.

The hulking guards eyed this strangely dressed woman suspiciously. Both of them thought the same thing at almost the same time. Foreigner. Even when the petite woman smiled an open and friendly smile, they bristled with contempt. One guard who was more ornately decorated stepped forward and barked, "State your intent."

Miaka jumped a little at the suddenness of the order, but then complied, "I wish an audience with his highness, the Emperor. It is a matter regarding the Priestess of Suzaku and the Suzaku seven." She noticed that the moment she mentioned the priestess, all the guards stiffened and looked more intimidating.

Miaka at age 24 was not the naïve and oblivious child she had been during her first visit to Konan. She had experienced the deaths of many friends on her past journey, and she had witnessed the deaths of everyone she cared about in the future. She had worked hard and finished high school with honors. She had excelled in college and graduated at the top of her class before going on to be hired by a large firm where office politics were brutal. She had thrived and supported Tamahome in pursuing his dream while saving for their first home, and paying for their wedding. She had worked the whole time she was pregnant, and made time for her family as well as maintaining her work ethic. She was still kind and gentle, but knew when to be out of character to get what she needed.

These guards lived in a world where women were lesser beings in need of protection and easily ignored about important matters. They loosened up a bit after the initial shock that this tiny woman would want to see the most important man in the entire region. One of the giants snorted and didn't even bother to hold back his amusement. They obviously did not respect her. The huge smile that she greeted them with at first dimmed as a steely look entered her eyes, and she tensed for battle. She would teach them to respect her.

She had learned in the past of her physical vulnerability. She did not even care to recount the number of times a larger male had grabbed her, carried her, or tried to do intimate things to her against her will. She had been a good middle school scrapper when it came to other girls, but full grown, battle hardened soldiers were a different matter. All through out high school and college, she had studied various martial arts forms. She did not want to be in a situation again where a man could force him self on her. Never again!

As the soldiers began laughing at her, she took a half step back and shifted her travel duffle strap over her head to the other shoulder so it crossed her chest and could not fall off. Then she shook out her hands and bent her knees slightly as she widened her stance into a defensive fighting pose. The soldiers immediately alerted by this motion, stopped laughing, tensed up and took another look at this girl. Their instincts screamed of battle training. Enemy!

She glared at the head guard and explained, "You can either escort me to someone who will arrange an audience with the Emperor, or you can watch as I make my way inside to find someone who will cooperate without your 'assistance.' If you delay me, the emperor will most likely have your heads for preventing this information reaching him in a timely manner." As she spoke, she noticed that two of the guards were attempting to circle around to the edge of her peripheral vision and attack her from behind. She side stepped closer to the right, into the pathway of one of these men. This placed them all before her again, and stopped his sneaking progress. Quickly assessing the situation and her options, she decided if she had to, she would back herself up against the palace wall just to the right of the gate to protect her back and keep them before her. This way, she could open a hole in their line towards the gate, and the rest would be behind her as she sprinted up the palace steps. A feline smile graced her lips as she likened this situation to the strategies she learned playing war games like Shogi, Go and Chess.

The head guard noticed that this slip of a woman was unarmed, as far as he could tell and willing to fight 6 armed guards with her bare hands. Speaking of hands, he noticed one of her hands was injured, and caked with dried blood. He inspected her movements and noticed the practice and skill with which she assessed her opponents and the fluidity of her movements. She was definitely trained for fighting. Doubt entered his mind. If she was a fighter, was she a danger to the emperor? If he let in a danger, he would be killed. But if she was somehow working for the emperor, he would lose his job for impeding her progress.

Finally, the head guard made a judgment call based on her eyes. She did not have evil intent in her eyes, simply determination. He would allow her in to a holding area while he summoned a minister to interrogate her. He would also increase the number of guards around her in case she sprang a trap on them and was discovered to be an assassin. With a barking command, the head guard agreed to her entrance. "You will be taken to a holding area while a minister is summoned. Wait here while a detachment is retrieved for your escort." A single hand motion sent one of the other guards scrambling to alert a handful of top warriors to the predicament.

Miaka relaxed only slightly as she didn't know these men. Therefore she didn't completely trust these men. She thought about her traveling to this dangerous place without even a weapon. If she were alone, she would have smacked herself on the forehead for this oversight. She really could have "blond moments" as her friends called her momentary lapses of intelligence. Within the palace walls, she could hear yelling, stomping, running, armor clanging and general commotion. She assumed the other guards were being rounded up to walk her to her holding cell. She figured they would toss her into a prison while they determined what course of action to take. Also, she secretly hoped they were adding guards to the palace wall in response to her perceived threat to the emperor's welfare. She really wanted Hotohori to live a long and happy life with his future wife and child. A life that he was denied in her first quest into the book.

She almost laughed out loud as she watched the twelve hulking guards round the edge of the wall and appear through the gate to "escort" her. It tickled her that she was a great enough threat to require such numbers of fighting men to contain her. Her Sensei would be proud. These soldiers respected her.

Her holding area turned out to be a shed near the training grounds to the far corner of the palace complex. She could hear the men outside grumbling about the waste of time spent guarding a tiny, slip of a woman. Since she had been there so long, she had walked around the shed and listened to the men outside. She had placed them as having two men on each corner, and one in the middle of each wall. After listening to the interactions of each group, she agreed that this was overkill.

As the sun was traveling closer and closer to noon, she was terribly bored. Also she felt truly hungry for the first time in weeks. Before, she had simply eaten when she could go no longer. Now, her stomach grumbled at her. She had not spoken to any of the guards, but since they had taken her travel duffle bag before placing her in this room, she had nothing to eat. It did not appear that her guards would be providing any food either.

With a resigned sigh, she approached the head of this detachment at the door and cleared her throat. Casually, she knocked on the door and called out, "Do you think I might get some food out of my travel bag? I have not eaten today, and I am rather hungry." The men around the perimeter of the shack suddenly lapsed into complete silence as they heard the first noise from their prisoner. Most had assumed that she had fallen asleep since she was deathly quiet. Her stomach chose that moment to let out a resounding growl which caused several guards to snicker.

The door opened slowly to reveal three guards in a ready position to deflect any trick she might attempt. She smiled thinking that two of the front corner guards must have slipped over to assist the guard at the door. Again, the one in charge at the door was slightly more decorated than his subordinates and carried an air of confidence. He eyed her suspiciously for a moment before leaning to his left and picking the bag up from behind the door. He placed it on the threshold and announced, "You may have your provisions, but the bag stays in the doorway and you stay visible." A slight huff of air escaped her as she tried not to laugh at the caution.

With a contented smile, she dropped to the ground behind her bag and opened one of the compartments that contained her food supply. She looked through the dried fruit and canned goods and decided on the fruit and some beef jerky. Carefully, she removed one strip of jerky and resealed the pack and replaced it. Then she pulled out one of the single serving bags of dried fruit and closed the duffle bag. She would have removed a bottle of water, but she had noticed there were no bathroom facilities in her little shack, and she did not want to be uncomfortable, or having to go in a corner. She had some dignity.

So, with the door open and three guards watching her, she ate her meal with enthusiasm. After she finished the meat, she tried to talk to the guards as she opened the fruit. It was hard with her damaged left hand, but she managed. "So, do you think anyone is going to come speak to me today? Or should I be prepared to sleep in here on the dirt?" She tilted her head to the side in a questioning manner as she popped some dried banana chips into her mouth.

The head guard stared at her a moment before deciding to speak. "The ministers are busy with matters of state and will arrive when their schedule permits. One should be prepared for all possible outcomes." She laughed a bit and commented, "You sound like Chichiri when he's being serious, except you didn't add the 'no da' part at the end of your sentence."

At the mention of the name of one of the Suzaku seven, all the guards stiffened, and the three at the door looked downright hostile. She swallowed hard, realizing her mistake. She was supposed to be a regular, traveler. She wasn't supposed to know any of the names of the Suzaku seven that had yet to be announced. The head guard took a step towards the threshold as he reached for his sword hilt. "How do you know Lord Chichiri?"

Miaka decided to give up on the sweet, innocent traveler persona and simply let her anger show. "That's what I've been trying to tell you hard headed buffoons! I have business with the emperor about the Suzaku seven and the fate of Konan! If someone does not alert him to my presence right now, I'll make sure you are all stripped of your positions and exiled once he learns of my treatment!" She had had enough stalling. Miaka was not deluded enough to think she could beat this head of the guard unit, anymore than she believed she could defeat Tamahome, but her temper had been simmering the entire morning since she was so close to her target.

The leader's face hardened even more as he listened to her ranting as if she were a friend of his highness. "You think yourself so highly that you can dictate the actions of our great leader?" He took another threatening step towards her which brought him to the edge of the doorway. Miaka started to tense at the perceived threat of attack. No man was ever going to lay a finger on her without her permission.

Realizing his potential error, the leader loosened his grip on his sword and turned to whirl away from the irritating girl. He had nearly let her goad him into entering such a confined space where his sword would have been virtually useless. Not to mention the look in her eyes that reminded him of the ferocity of a desperate animal backed into a corner. He marched off to obtain a minister for interrogation purposes. He had better things to do than to baby sit an impudent brat.

Miaka sat back down next to her bag to finish the dried fruit she had abandoned in her fit of anger. Before she had even finished this food, she heard a male voice protesting violently about something. As it drew nearer, she realized it was the head of the guard carrying a squawking man dressed in rich, fine robes. He must be a minister. Actually, the minister looked vaguely familiar. Could it be someone she had met on her previous trip? She grinned at the sound and waited patiently for their arrival. Somewhere in the back of her head, she acknowledged that this was not anything she had written into her rewrite of the book of the Universe of the Four Gods. The book was improvising. It also occurred to her that the book must have a sense of humor. The moment after that, she also realized that although there was some humor in the previous story, there was more heartache and tragedy than anything else. Her situation with Tamahome alone proved that much. Not to mention her situation with Yui.

As she waited, her mind wandered to Yui. Miaka had tried and tried during her rewriting of the story to figure some way to prevent Yui from entering Konan, to prevent her attack. She had worked for a day on that situation alone. Was there some way to keep Yui from going to the national library? Was there some way to keep her from being pulled back into the book when Miaka found her way out that second time? Was there some way to write the story that she never met Nakago? Each time she thought she had the answer, she could see how the original journey would be damaged to the point of unrecognizability. In the end, she simply wrote in between the lines of that story that Yui had not actually been attacked and met a kind gentleman who helped her. Miaka didn't know if that would be enough. She didn't know if there was something else she could do. What if she had made Nakago a nice man instead? But then, all the Seiryu seven were evil except Amiboshi. Miaka hoped the book improvised something nice for Yui because she had been tortured so terribly in their previous quest that she still suffered from the experience. But, if Yui had been different, would she have fallen in love with Miaka's brother's best friend Tetsuya who had helped rescue them from the book?

A strange thought rifled through Miaka's mind. Was Keisuke reading this parallel story in the library right now? If so, did he know about the destruction of the world that she had experienced, and that had taken his life? Had her story revived the original participants? Her head began aching and she placed the troublesome thoughts out of her head as the minister was unceremoniously dumped on the ground before her.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer – I own nothing other than the gray matter between my ears, and my own mistakes.

AN – There may be grammatical and spelling errors in this chapter. It is late, and I have not proofread this for the 3rd time as I usually do. If there are any glaring errors, I will remove the chapter, correct them, and repost it. I just really felt I needed to post the next chapter for my loyal readers who have been so patient.

Chapter 2 – Meeting

Miaka snickered behind her hand as she watched the way the lead guard unceremoniously dropped the minister into a heap before the door of the shed. She was sure the minister had never been manhandled in such a way before in his life. Those of power and status were unused to the rougher aspects of life.

The man with the pointy hat and shiny robes sputtered in indignation and rose to brush the dirt off his robes. The glare he pointed to the guard promised punishment of the highest order for this offense. Sure enough, the man's voice was high and whiney as he shouted, "What is the meaning of this outrage?! I am a busy man and do not have time to be carted around like a sack of produce!"

The guard gestured in a careless manner towards Miaka and stated, "This person appeared demanding an audience with the emperor. No one has arrived to determine her purpose and we can not waste a detachment to guard a single woman." Then the guard turned his body slightly away from the minister and the woman as if dismissing their presence.

Miaka studied the face of this paper-pusher and wondered exactly what she would have to do or say to get in to see her old friend Hotohori. Finally, she stood and decided for the no nonsense, direct approach. Clearing her throat, she made sure she had the flustered man's attention. "I require you to confirm my identity with the Emperor as I am on a mission of the most urgent importance. Once the Emperor is assured of the genuineness of my identity, he will most likely demand my presence." She assumed her most authoritative voice, the one she used on her daughter and her little friends when she had to supervise play dates. "Please tell his highness that the woman who asked for a jewel from his crown during the procession a few days ago needs to speak with him regarding matters concerning the newly appeared Priestess of Suzaku. If he is still doubtful, you may remind him that the second time I met him, he was in his courtyard, alone. We spoke of my purpose in Konan and I thought he was a woman. We spoke of my arrest and my own world. He gave me his word of honor that he would not summon the guards. No one else was present, and only he and I would know of what was spoken."

The guards had turned in her direction even though they were not openly looking at her. She knew they were listening. The minister still retained a sour, doubting look on his face, but he shifted about on his feet as if he were considering her demands. She sighed, "Sir Minister, you must realize, if I am speaking the truth, the Emperor will be greatly annoyed for any delay in relaying this information to him. And if I am lying, the sooner you dispose of me, the sooner you will have erased a threat to your empire. These highly skilled guards could be put to a much better use than guarding a single woman. The walls need to be fortified against attack and spies during this time of war with Kutou." She smiled her best innocent smile and hoped that she had convinced this doubting man to hurry on his way and do her bidding.

She relaxed as the minister protested and grumbled, but turned sharply and made a bee line for the throne room. The guards watched in surprise as it was well known that ministers were always busy doing something, but never anything of any seeming consequence. Always wrapped up in their heads of politics, influence and currying favor. The soldiers never understood the world of intrigue and preferred their straight forward world of enemy...defend.

Miaka's posture slumped a bit as she allowed the tension to ease from her body. Time was important. She had things to do in a limited amount of time before her younger self accomplished her goals.

The head guard, Mister Fancy as she was beginning to think of him in his snappy uniform, looked carefully at her with some expression other than annoyance. She looked at him and lifted her hands face up and shrugged her shoulders in a gesture of 'I don't know.' His eyes moved to her left hand and a frown crossed his face. He turned to the soldier on his left and murmured an order that had the underling scurrying off towards the barracks she had seen earlier. He turned back to Miaka and gestured for her to take a seat in the doorway. She looked surprised that they were not going to shove her back in the dark shed and lock the door again. Did this man trust her a bit?

As she shifted her body to sit with her legs folded up under her and to the side, she leaned against the door frame. It was nice to relax, even if it was only a bit. The large man gracefully sat his body on the ground in a cross legged position about four feet in front of her. This again was a surprise. One rarely dropped their guard in the presence of a perceived threat. Feeling a bit uncomfortable with this development, Miaka was unsure if she should speak to these men. She was already interfering in the development of the future of her younger self, and in the past of her present self. What more damage would she create by talking to more than the ones she absolutely had to?

The man finally realized she was not going to open the conversation, and he felt that he should know a bit about this strange woman before the minister returned and whisked her away to the inner workings of the palace. Once she was gone, he doubted he would see her again. For good or foul. There were things that confused him that he could not just let drop. She was so young, and carried an aura of innocence and sweetness. Then in a moment, she could change and present herself as a trained, seasoned fighter with a quick wit and ability to assess a situation. He cleared his throat and presented himself, "I am Lieutenant Kunai of his Emperor's 2nd division of infantry. I suppose it would be foolish to assume you would freely give your name since you have gone to such trouble to identify yourself to his Emperor's minister without providing one."

Miaka smiled at the intelligence behind his statement and bowed her head to show he was indeed correct. "I can not provide you with my full name, but you may address me as Mia. I would like to thank you for procuring a minister in such a timely fashion. I hope I can return the favor at a future date. My mission is time sensitive and any further delay could be disastrous." Her stomach chose that moment to growl again, and a few of the soldiers in the front of the shed snickered again. Her cheeks pinked a bit as she thought, 'why is a growling stomach always so funny?' The Lieutenant gestured to her discarded lunch and motioned for her to resume eating. With her good hand, Miaka reached for the dried fruit and offered the man some. He shook his head politely and she finished her lunch.

A few moments later the soldier that had scurried away at the Lieutenant's order returned with a slightly older man who looked like he was in the army, but not a fighter. The Lieutenant acknowledged the new man and turned to Miaka. "I took it upon myself to bring our healer to treat your hand. Such grave wounds could delay your mission." He shifted and rose to allow this new man access to the prisoner. Miaka was indeed surprised at the thoughtfulness of the Lieutenant, and acquiesced to being treated.

The healer kneeled before her and gently took her bloody left hand into his own larger hand. A frown crossed the man's face and she could almost hear him wondering how in the world she received such an injury. As she tried to look at her hand like they would, the only thing she could figure they would attribute her wounds to would be torture, because they didn't know about food processors. She personally thought her hand looked like it got caught in a blender or meat grinder.

As the man opened his medicine box, he looked into her face with a question in his eyes. He really wanted her to tell him how this had happened, but she would not. She thought about saying something flippant like "I cut myself shaving" but decided silence was the better path to take. Let them wonder. Still, a half smirk lifted the side of her mouth as she glanced from the healer back to the Lieutenant.

The healer was quick and efficient and soon had her hand covered in a healing, pain numbing goo and wrapped with cloth. She looked like she had an oven mitt on her hand. But at least the pain was gone for the most part. She was about to offer him her thanks when a soul-sheering pain tore through her chest. She squinted her eyes shut and sucked in a breath in surprise. Both hands clawed at her chest as she doubled over and her forehead hit the threshold of the door. The pain felt like a hot spear pierced her chest and lava flowing from her chest into her extremities.

As the pain ebbed, she found she could breathe again. The sounds around her crumpled body reminded her of where she was. The healer was frantically answering questions from the Lieutenant as to what had happened. She let out a deep sigh as she slowly pushed her upper body back up into a sitting position. The healer gently helped her in attaining this upright position.

She carefully looked around and felt the eyes of the soldiers boring into her. It wouldn't be good to have a prisoner suddenly keel over while in their custody. She raised her right arm up and used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe the pain induced sweat from her forehead. She couldn't answer their questions of what had happened as she didn't even know herself. The only other time she had felt such an intense pain was when she was dragged this last time into the Book. Hadn't Suzaku said something about feeling the pain of each change she made in this timeline? With a final sigh, she relaxed her body totally against the doorframe and commented for those questioning her. "I guess the minister finally spoke to the Emperor."

The Lieutenant looked down at the strange woman and realized no other answers were forthcoming. So, her pain was caused by the minister talking to the emperor? That was a little more than odd. But in this day and age where Priestesses from other worlds were showing up and the guardian Gods were being summoned to save their world, who knew what other strange things could occur. At least he could have the healer bind her hand. That was all his training was good for. He could not fight the occult or supernatural.

Only a few moments had passed when a flock of ministers descended down the palace steps, headed in their direction. The Lieutenant grinned. "I guess the Emperor believed your story enough to summon you to the palace." The same flustered minister appeared before the shed with four others and began spouting orders to bring the prisoner. The soldiers from behind the shed gathered by the doorway to escort her to her audience with the Emperor. One of the underlings reached for her duffle bag and her smaller fanny pack as they gestured for Miaka to walk in the middle of this detachment.

Miaka felt a bit strange needing 12 brawny men to walk with her. She had been able to walk on her own since she was two, for Heaven's sake! But, instead of feeling upset, she found it funny some how. She settled into an almost march to be in step with the soldiers. Their boots made a noise that reminded her of a drum beat in one of her favorite modern songs. How long had it been since she listened to music? Her mind wandered as there was nothing to capture her attention on the march across the courtyard. The sun felt wonderful on her face as she tilted her head back and simply enjoyed the feeling.

When they reached the shade cast by the porch, she felt like she had just awakened from a dream. Her attention quickly refocused on her surroundings and she realized she was standing before a large, ornately carved oriental door. When this door was opened, she was lead into an antechamber of the Emperor's throne room. She had been here before, and knew that she would have to wait until summoned. It would not be good to barge in on some other important meeting. She needed to make a good first impression. Or, in this case, a good…. second impression? Or would this be a third or fourth impression? Seriously, the second impression would have been when she returned after three months and landed in the middle of Hotohori's war council.

She jumped when the double doors were flung open by two huge guards that were even larger than the Lieutenant. It was her turn to be brought before the Emperor. The ministers that had remained around her scurried in like frightened cockroaches to take their positions against the walls. She shook herself and looked around at her detachment of guards. The Lieutenant gestured with his hand for her to precede them into the throne room, and she did. With a shake of her head, and a squaring of her shoulders, she practically marched into the room.

As she walked up the luxurious red carpet in the center aisle of the room, she remembered all the other times she had stood before the raised platform. The purple curtains were still full and gathered along the pillars supporting the roof. The white, carved painting still adorned the stairs directly before the ornate throne that Hotohori inhabited. There were two gold urns on either side of his chair to light the dark room, and two fan bearers behind him to cool him with their giant peacock feather looking fans.

But the thing that captured her attention more than any finery was the young man sitting at the top of the stairs watching her with suspicion. Oh, Hotohori. Her mind cried out to run to him and hug the daylights out of him. He was still alive. She laughed at herself as she blinked away the tears. Of course he was still alive, she had returned well before the Kutou army invaded and Yui sealed away Suzaku's powers.

Her breath caught in her throat as Hotohori came more into focus. He was so young looking. Had he looked so young before? No of course not, he had been three years older than she at the time of her first travels. He had been a knight in shining armor. Now she was six years older than this man who had been an emperor all his life. He looked like a boy pretending to be a man. But he was still beautiful. His golden eyes were narrowed and his arched brows marred by a frown, but he was still gorgeous. In her mental wanderings, she sometimes wondered if Hotohori and Nuriko should have been born women. It was almost a crime for a man to look that naturally pretty. It wasn't fair.

With her detachment of guards lined up behind her, Miaka walked half way between the door and the throne and lowered herself to the ground. She knelt in respect, and then placed her forehead on the carpet and remained there to show her deepest regards. Above her on the raised platform, she heard the deep, sexy sound of Hotohori's voice as he questioned her. "Woman. My minister states that you claim to have information in regards to the Priestess of Suzaku. Who are you and how is it that you know of privileged information?"

Miaka raised her head off the floor and gazed with loving eyes at one of her dearest friends and defenders. "Your highness, I wish to tell you of my travels and mission but I fear that irreparable damage could be done to Konan if my information became general knowledge. I mean no harm to your Highness, or your empire. On the contrary, I come with Suzaku's blessings to prevent great tragedy and injustice."

Miaka waited and watched the indecision on Hotohori's gentle face. In only a moment he was ordering the throne room cleared of all personnel except the detachment of guards that had accompanied her. As the upset ministers and staff exited in a grumbling huff, Miaka could barely make out the snickering coming from the ranks of hardened soldiers behind her. It must be a funny sight for them to see all the soft-handed, non working palace extras being tossed out.

Finally, the room was cleared, and the guards placed at the doors to prevent any curious ears from hearing what they should not. Miaka stood and took a few steps closer to the stairs and the throne and began her tale. "Great Emperor, I know the things I speak of as I am Miaka Yuuki and experienced them with you."

Hotohori interrupted, "But how is that possible? The Priestess Miaka left on a mission just this morning and you are not her."

Miaka smiled like a parent explaining something to a child. "You are correct Highness. I am not her. I have not been that girl in some nine years. I traveled back to your world through the Universe of the Four Gods, and my younger self is currently attempting to gather the other of the Suzaku warriors." The shock on Hotohori's face was evident for all to see. "I know that Tamahome is currently being held in Kutou in exchange for their army not raiding any more villages on the Konan border. And I know that Chichiri and Nuriko are with my younger self and using an enchanted mirror that Taiitsukun gave them to locate the remaining warriors. Also, I know that you wish you were with the Priestess that you love, and Chichiri will return soon today to offer to take your place here in the palace so you might travel with her."

The moment those last words were spoken, the sharp, tearing pain stabbed through her chest again and brought her to her knees just as it had in the shed. She didn't know if she had cried out, but when the pain receded she found the Lieutenant on her right side and Hotohori on her left side. She lifted herself up, braced on her right hand as her eyes searched out the face of her friend. His eyes were full of love and concern, and his voice was gentle, "Miaka, what is wrong? Are you ill?"

A pained smile graced her face and she just wanted to grab this man and cry into his chest in happiness. Her voice was a bit strained as she tried to explain. "Hotohori, my dear friend, the future has not fared so well. I have returned to correct some mistakes and right some regrets. Unfortunately, every time I change my past, I feel the pain that seems to be a piece of my soul being torn away from me. But I don't mind if I can save my friends and our two worlds, then it's all worth it." She reached out a hand and gently cupped the side of Hotohori's face. She could hear the startled gasps of the soldiers behind her due to her being so forward as to touch their great emperor, but she didn't care. A tear did finally escape her eye as she explained, "It has been so long since I have seen you alive and well. I… I don't really don't know what to say…… I…..I…" and she gave in to her instincts and threw herself at her long dead friend and cried like a child of 15 into his warm, breathing chest.

She had not been there when Nakago had dealt the death blow to this courageous man before her. It had never seemed real, even when she saw his ghost in her world. She would stare at her Polaroid of all of them and feel as if they were still together, somewhere, waiting for her. She could not go through those deaths again. She would not let it happen. She would rather die herself than let another of her friends sacrifice themselves for her, or because of her. She whispered to herself in a voice that she thought was too low for anyone to hear it, "I won't let you die again. I won't. You deserve to live with your wife Hoki and your son and be happy." But Hotohori had heard. He was shocked.

It was several minutes before Miaka could get her crying under control. It has been so long since she had allowed herself to grieve that it had built up to a point where she couldn't just ignore it anymore. She pulled herself off of Hotohori's ruined robes and grinned in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I think I ruined your robe." Hotohori ran his hand under her chin and forced her to look up at his loving eyes, "Silly Miaka. Silk can be replaced, you can not. Now are you ready to tell us what has transpired to bring you back to us?"

As she opened her mouth to explain further, the air in the throne room swirled with color and a popping sound. Again the pain exploded through her chest as she watched Chichiri materialize before them. This must be another change in her past. She managed to not hit the floor this time, but a whimper was torn from her throat. Hotohori wrapped his arms around her tense, sweating form and tried to comfort her.

Chichiri took in the sight of his emperor holding someone who was impersonating Miaka, whom he had just left, and he jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Highness, get away from this imposter!" and Chichiri struck an aggressive posture, poised to attack.

Hotohori gripped Miaka tighter since he had already had his questions about her identity put to rest and commanded, "Hold. This is not an imposter. She was about to tell us how it was she found herself back in our world." Chichiri looked dubious but would do as his emperor commanded.

Slowly, Miaka breathed a sigh of relief as the pain subsided. She looked around at the men surrounding her and noticed the doubt in Chichiri's eyes. She grinned like she had done something devious and nodded at him, "So, you are here to let Hotohori join his beloved Priestess in the hunt for the other warriors?" Chichiri's mouth dropped open, and she was sure if he wasn't wearing his mask, that his one good eye would have popped open in shock. She leaned conspiratorially towards Hotohori and said in a loud whisper for everyone to hear, "I don't think he believes it's me." And winked.

Hotohori settled her on her feet and turned to those in the room and announced, "We shall retire somewhere more conducive to speaking in private." Miaka frowned and tapped a finger to her lips and suggested, "How about the garden? I particularly loved the gazebo over the pond." So, it was decided to move the gathering to the garden. Half he detachment of guards were dismissed and the Lieutenant and 5 others moved to guard the Emperor in the garden.

Miaka sat on the edge of the wooden deck and dangled her feet into the water below, trying to trick the coy to nibble at her toes. She started her tale in a hushed voice. "As Hotohori knows, I have been gone from your world for nine years. The girl you were traveling with this morning is me, but a younger me. I have all her memories from our time together, and of things to come. But my world has been totally destroyed. There is no one left alive other than me." She stopped a minute to fight off the tears that threatened. She did not look back to see the shocked faces of her two friends or the nearest guards.

"I did not know why I was spared the same fate as my family. I only know that all life ended, and the Universe of the Four Gods book suddenly reappeared. I figured there must have been a reason. So I tried to think of a way to prevent the destruction." She pulled her foot out of the water and swiveled around on her bottom to face the others, and lean back against the banister of the deck. "I found a way to rewrite my story around the adventures of my younger self to change the things that should not have happened. I intend to summon Suzaku to correct some things so that all seven of you might join me in my world to protect the future, like Tamahome did." The pain stabbed her again, and she struggled to not let it show on her face, though the men knew what was happening. "That is, if you want to. I think it would be better to say, that you will all have the option if you want to." She turned to address Chichiri, "As you might have noticed when I do or say something that changes my past, it pains me a bit. I assume that the closer I get to my goal, the more things will have been changed, and I might not be able to endure the pain to complete my task. As such, I wanted to ask one of you if you might help me." She turned her eyes down to the water again in doubt. "I know you are fighting your own battle right now, and gathering the warriors is paramount to saving your world, but I could really use help."

Chichiri and Hotohori exchanged glances and Hotohori explained, "You know we would help you do anything we could. It matters not if you are the younger Miaka, or the older one. You are still our Priestess, and our friend." Miaka smiled like she was looking at a buffet, and launched herself at her two friends, and squeezed them in a group hug.

Suddenly, Miaka broke the embrace and turned to the soldiers. "Oh, which one of you has my bags?" When one stepped forward, she rushed over and pulled out her fanny pack. After a bit of fuss, she pulled out the yellow legal sized sheets of paper that had her outline on it. She looked at some of the papers, and suddenly exclaimed. "Oh! Oh! One of you needs to get back to Miaka! It's almost time for her rescue."

She struggles with the fanny pack and pulls out the envelopes addressed to Hotohori and Chichiri. She looks concerned about doing this, but then hands them over anyways. As she expected, the pain shot through her. After a minute to regroup, she explains. "These are instructions on some things that need to happen if I'm not successful. If Miaka can successfully summon Suzaku, then most of this won't be necessary. If she can't, then this is what you need to know to fix things. I can't tell you more. I don't want to change too much."

She looked around as the guards and suggested. "I think you guys shouldn't call me Miaka or Priestess. It will be confusing. Not to mention what it might do if Kutou finds out what I'm doing. See, there's an alternative way to summon Suzaku. We had to use it in my past because we made some mistakes. I'm hoping you can summon Suzaku the normal way, and then I can use the alternative. You could call me Mia. It's an old nickname of mine from childhood. That way we know exactly who we are talking about."

She started walking back to the throne room. "Now, Chichiri, one of you needs to get going. In my past, you returned to the palace because you knew how much Hotohori wanted to accompany Miaka and protect her while Tamahome was away." She bowed her head and scraped a foot on the ground and mumbled to herself, "Stupid macho warrior who thought he knew better. Caused more problems than he solved. Stupid, stupid man!" Her friends recognized that she wasn't really angry, just upset.

She turned back to her friends and clasped her hands together in a praying manner, "I really need to ask which ever one of you does not return to Miaka to accompany me on my journey. There will be some obstacles that I cannot overcome alone. And I'd rather not simply travel with soldiers that I do not trust. In these times, men do not seem to take kindly to a woman giving the orders, and I'd rather not fight for control on every decision."

Hotohori and Chichiri studied each other as if they were making their decision mentally. Did being Suzaku warriors bestow on them that type of power? And if so, why didn't she have that talent? She had at one point in the past, wielded all seven powers as their symbols burned on her body. She didn't remember that particular trait.

It's finally decided that Hotohori will ride out to save the younger Miaka, and Chichiri will create an illusion to remain in the palace while he accompanies Mia (the older Miaka) on her quest. She has not leaked too much information to her friends out of concern of changing too many things. But, as Hotohori is preparing to mount his horse and have Chichiri magically transport him to where he needs to be, Miaka gently pulls the younger man aside. She looks up into his beautiful golden eyes and sighs quietly. It was a pity she couldn't love this man as he deserved to be loved. She tries to explain, "You need to know that she does love you, but not like you deserve to be loved. Tamahome has stolen her heart, and she can't take it back to give to you." She gently places a hand on his cheek to soften the blow, "But she will always care for you and will grieve deeply if anything happens to you. I will also grieve if anything happens to you. Please, be careful. You are not indestructible, even though you like to think you are." And she hugs him with a reminder, "I'll probably be here when you get back. Oh, and you need to know. Do not trust the flute player. He is not a real Suzaku warrior." Pain, again. This was getting old. She lifted her head back up after a moment and continued, "The real Chiriko will show up later on the day of the summoning. Do not let Miaka throw the scroll into the fire until this imposter is removed. Oh, and don't kill him. Imprison him or something, but don't let him die. A horrible chain of events will occur if he dies."

Then she took a step back and smiled at her knight in shining armor. Though she really wished he'd get rid of that weird little pill box hat. It made her think of a music box she had as a kid where you open up the lid and it plays music while a plastic ballerina twirls around. He needed something more masculine. Maybe a baseball cap? Or a white cowboy hat like the good guys wore in those old Westerns.

He mounted his charger and turned to Chichiri to begin the spell. He smiled back to her and wished her a safe and quick journey, then was gone into the swirling magic.

Chichiri morphed his image into that of Hotohori, and began commanding the ministers and the Generals to prepare for "Lady Mia's" journey. She had requested Lieutenant Kunai and the guards from earlier, since they seemed to respect her, and knew a bit of what was going on, and what was at stake for her. No point in informing new people and risking a leak to the enemy. There was also a pair of really huge, muscle bound soldiers who looked like they could be sumo wrestlers. Miaka knew they would be needed to remove the boulder that Nuriko had turned aside just before he died in her first trip to this world. Mia clenched her jaw and thought to herself, there is no way in Heaven or Hell that Nuriko is getting within 50 miles of that mountain! With any luck, they could travel fast enough to recover both Shinzaho and return before the others. At least, before Tamahome returns to fight Hotohori.

Mia giggled as she watched the fake Hotohori swish about, giving orders, and being otherwise charming. Chichiri must really be enjoying himself if he's hamming it up this badly. Lieutenant Kunai was the only other person who knew this was a fake Hotohori, as the real Emperor had given him explicit orders on how to care for this woman who was to journey about with one of the Suzaku seven. Kunai was not aware of the whole truth, but had overheard enough between the throne room and garden to know that this woman was an older version of the current Priestess of Suzaku that had come from another world to save Konan. As such, she was much more precious than even the younger version of herself. She had knowledge that if lost, could spell the end of their world. It was a shame that she would go unknown on this journey. There would be no tales sung by bards of her adventures. There would be no cheering or parades. There would be no recognition, except by those who were trusted to be discreet.

Mia had been given a soldier's uniform from one of the younger recruits. The plan was to keep citizens from noticing she was female at all. This illusion was helped by her recently chopped off hair. That way there could be no mistaking her for the priestess. Spies were everywhere in these war torn times, and she had remembered how Nakago seemed to know every single thing they were doing. The group of 16 would ride hard and fast, imitating a band of reinforcements, headed to the front lines. Even Chichiri would wear a uniform and toned down his hair a bit so he was less recognizable. It wasn't a fool proof plan, but when was anything she came up with fool proof? She snorted at her self and tried to readjust the front of her soldier's shirt so her breasts were not so constricted. Not that she had much there anymore. Not eating properly for so many days, or was it weeks, would do that to a woman's assets. But, what was there was getting really chafed by the rough material. She'll have to find a silk undershirt, or something later on to help her skin. Maybe, she could just keep her own clothes under these baggier clothes. That would solve the problem. So, in her mind, she decided on a wardrobe adjustment at their first stop. Right now, all she wanted was to get on the road! The sooner they reached Hokkan, the sooner she could head to Sairou. And this time, no mangy wolf is going to steal what she works so hard to get! With a snort, she looks to make sure Lieutenant Kunai has included the two archers from his detachment that would take care of any mutant wolf/warrior that might happen along.

So, after the fake Hotohori had made all their arrangements, and replaced himself with a totally illusionary Emperor, Chichiri mounted his horse and waited for all of them. Mia mounted her lovely, prancing war horse, and feared that she might not fare any better than Tatsuke with communicating with these fearsome animals. One of the handlers had warned her that properly trained war horses could inflict as much damage on an enemy as a squire with a lance. These horses were trained to rear up on their hind legs to lash out with the front legs at the enemy. They were trained to leap up into the air to move their rider out of danger. They were even trained to jump full force into the middle of a pack of enemy soldiers and kick out front and back legs. Needless to say, Mia felt a bit intimidated on the broad back of her grey and white dappled gelding. She sucked in a breath as the giant head of the horse turned back to sniff at her boot and she wondered if it was going to sample her foot to see if she was tasty. The black eyes of the horse looked at her small frame sitting on its back, and seemed to settle down. Was it possible for a horse to be smart enough to know she knew nothing, and was scared to death? Apparently so, since her horse followed along with Kunai's and Chichiri's horses without her having to do a thing other than hold on. This was going to be an interesting few days.


	3. Chapter 3 The Travelling Begins

Disclaimer – I own absolutely no rights to Fushigi Yuugi. Wish I did. I did create Lieutenant Kanai and Tank. Can't have our priestess wandering around unprotected.

Chapter 3 The Traveling Begins

It had only been about ten minutes after they galloped away from the palace gates when Miaka realized she was in trouble. For starters, her horse, which she was thinking of naming "Tank" because he was as broad as a minivan, was a very bouncy creature. They had not even reached the outskirts of town and she had nearly bounced off three times.

Since they were a detachment of soldiers, it had been decided that in settlements, the warriors would gallop their horses to prevent any civilian from getting a good look at their members. And with Miaka dressing as a soldier, she couldn't very well ride side saddle, or double with one of the others. It was common knowledge that the Emperor's mounted soldiers were consummate horsemen. It would be disgraceful to ride behind another on the same horse, unless the second man was horribly injured. So this left poor Miaka riding alone on this back of this massive horse. It wouldn't be so humiliating if she couldn't hear some of her traveling companions snickering at her from behind.

Miaka fussed, "How do you steer these things? And there's nothing to hold on to!" This was nothing like the other time she had visited where one of her warriors traveled with her, either allowing her to hold on from behind, like Nuriko, or letting her sit in front and holding her with strong arms, like Hotohori. Then her feet slipped out of the stirrups again for about the sixth time and she almost came unseated again.

Tank was at least following along with the other horses. If there was a need to separate and go a different way, she was in big trouble. She tried to watch Chichiri just in front of her to see how he managed to ride so smoothly. "Show off. Just because he was raised riding horses…." She grumbled. He didn't seem to bounce at all. Of course, it was hard for her to tell for sure, because her head was bouncing so much the whole world looked skewed.

The sound of another horse riding up along her right side alerted her to the approach of Lieutenant Kanai. The big soldier rode along side her and watched her distress. Finally, with a quiet voice that eerily reminded her of Nakago, he leaned over and asked, "You've never ridden on a horse before?" She couldn't really take her eyes off trying to hold on and simply snorted, "Ya think!" back at him. To his credit, Kanai didn't laugh at her antics like some of his less disciplined men had. Instead, he had decided it would be wise to teach her some of the basics so they weren't scraping her off the roadway. Also, he would not have citizens thinking one of his men was so poorly trained. She rode worse than a backwater farm boy.

He looked over her saddle and bridle. For starters, it appeared that her stirrups were too long, so when she bounced up, her feet naturally popped out. He called a halt to the ranks, and swooped off his mount to move towards Tank's side. Miaka looked more than a bit confused, but relieved to be still. "What are you doing? Is something wrong with Tank?" But the man simply grasped her ankle, removed her foot from the stirrup, and shoved her leg out of the way. Miaka yelled, "Hey! Take it easy! You'll push me off, and I'm barely up here as it is!" Chichiri rode back towards them and was making hushing sounds. "Mia! Remember, you are a soldier. You can't be yelling at your commanding officer. People will get suspicious!"

Miaka clamped a hand over her mouth and apologized with a simple, "Oops." And left it at that. After a moment more, Kanai moved to adjust the stirrup on the other side as well. Two of the other soldiers rode up to flank Miaka's horse so that any casual citizens could not see their commander doing this menial chore. Once they were to his likings, Kanai smacked Miaka on the thigh and commanded, "There, soldier. That is the proper length for stirrups in my regiment." He moved to mount his huge white horse and continued, "Now, you will receive a refresher drill on the proper riding techniques for his Emperor's horsemen."

After an hour of putting the horses through different paces to get Miaka used to the movement of each, the column of soldiers had put a great deal of distance between themselves and the palace. They could have gone faster if they had just continued galloping, but she was truly grateful for the lessons. No longer was she in constant terror of flying off the broad gray back, now she was just feeling like her legs were about to explode from the physical exertion. It was a lot of hard work to keep most of her body balanced on her legs like shock absorbers.

Fortunately, her leg muscles became so worn out, that they no longer burned, and became almost numb. Chichiri slowed his pace to match her horse and ride on her right side, while Kanai maintained his pace to stay on her left side. The thirteen other soldiers were divided with the second in command just to Kanai's left and the regulars divided up with five before them and five behind them. The two huge Sumo wrestlers were bringing up the rear on horses the size of small elephants.

Chichiri was terribly curious to ask this Miaka imposter questions. Being an educated man, he wanted to know as much as possible. Miaka looked lovingly over to her blue haired warrior and laughed, "You know, I feel like Nuriko, only in reverse. A woman pretending to be a man. But she was a much prettier woman than I'll be a handsome man. I look like a little boy!" and laughed at herself. Chichiri just looked curious, as if to say, 'how did she know that?' Miaka's mood fell a bit. She had really hoped to break the ice and get him to talking to her. She could almost feel the distrust rolling off him in waves. It was beginning to grate on her nerves.

Miaka watched the scenery pass by as the raced off to the North towards Hokkan and tried to shake her negative feelings. Since they had not gotten a start until well after lunch, it would soon be dinnertime and then time to camp for the night. She knew that time was of the essence, but there was no point in killing themselves and their horses just yet. Pulling the yellow legal pad pages out of her fanny pack that she had insisted on wearing under the military vest and jacket, she tried to remember her time line.

She figured she had roughly two weeks to retrieve both Shinzaho and return to the palace before her younger self tried to summon Suzaku. The time they had been with Tasuki and his bandits was all a big blur to her, and she couldn't remember exactly how many days they had been up there in the mountains. So, she estimated on the side of the least amount of time she was sure of.

She had penciled in about a week to travel to Hokkan and retrieve the Genbu Shinzaho, then another week to travel south then across the desert to Sairou for the Byakko Shinzaho. The second leg of her journey would be a bit trickier since Yui was not in competition with her, and doing some of the exploration. Miaka could only assume that Tatara, the guardian of the Byakko Shinzaho resided in that tower that Yui had him trapped in when Miaka had gone there before.

It made sense. Miaka had been on the tower of the lovers waiting for Tamahome when she saw Yui and Nakago pass by in their procession. Tatara had not been with them then, so he had to have been found in that tower. It was the best she could figure with the limited knowledge she held. It might have been easier if she could have just brought that darn book back with her.

She caught Chichiri casually trying to look at her papers while not looking like he was looking. It was no use since Chichiri would not be able to decipher her writing or language. Though, it made her a bit angry that he would still be suspicious of her. Well, he could snoop all he wanted. It wouldn't help. Her blue haired friend finally asked, "Mia, are you hungry? We could stop around here for dinner, you know. I'm sure we could find a place that could serve enough food to keep you happy, you know."

Miaka laughed out loud at the subtle jibe from her friend about her eating habits. She had always amazed her warriors with the amount of food she could pack away. It couldn't be helped when someone had such a high metabolism. How did they think she maintained all that happy, perky energy back in the past? With happy thoughts? Nope, good old fashioned food. She glanced over to the setting sun and commented, "Actually, I'm not all that hungry. We could travel a bit farther, unless all of you are ready to stop. Because, once I fall of this horse, I won't be getting back on for quite a few hours." Chichiri's face had turned cold as if this had been a test, and she failed. What! Just because she couldn't eat as much as she used to didn't mean it wasn't her!

She had been having difficulty keeping food down since before she started rewriting her story. She dropped her eyes as the vision of the empty, wind tortured, sun baked streets outside her scratched window flashed before her eyes. Was this the beginning of the sickness that had devastated her world? How much radiation had she been exposed to? Why hadn't it killed her immediately like everyone else? Her eyes became blank and sightless as she was sucked into her memories and relived those tragic events. Explosions, screams, crying, silence, all echoed in succession in her mind. The death rattles of a world.

It was her horse that roused her back to the real world with a nip on her foot. Her previously unseeing eyes glanced down to wonder at the pain in her toes. It took a moment for her to even recognize that she was on a horse, and it was nibbling on her. She finally reacted with a loud, "Hey, I'm not a carrot!" and a gentle kick to its furry nose.

She tried not to whine as she asked Chichiri, "Why did we take horses instead of a boat like we did last time?" Tank turned his head like he was going to take another bite out of her foot, so she hurriedly added, "Not that I have anything against taking horses. I love horses and riding all over the place. It's fun to bounce. I was just wondering about time."

Chichiri looked strangely at her and quietly commented, "Well, the Emperor was concerned about spies watching the ports, you know. It would look suspicious if a regiment of reinforcements left the city on a ship, you know." He looked at her out of the corner of his eyes, never smiling.

Miaka huffed a bit as her shoulders sagged. "You still don't believe me." Chichiri simply shrugged, "Well, you must admit it's a bit unusual since I just left the Priestess this morning, you know. And there are so many things about you that are different, you know. It's a little much to believe right away, you know."

Miaka felt something in her snap. This had been going on all afternoon. She had had enough! "Of course I'm different. I already explained it's been nine years. A lot has happened! I bet you are different now than when you were younger and had just lost your fiancé and best friend in the flood!" Her voice rose in pitch as she got louder and the emotions took over. "My husband and daughter and everyone I know and love died a few weeks ago and…and…. I ….I'm trying…. " her voice choked up with emotion. "I'm trying to fix everything……..and you……" With a whirl of her head, she turned angrily away from her friend and kicked Tank as hard as she could. To the shock of everyone, her mount launched instantly into a wide open gallop and plowed through the five men riding casually before them.

Tears pooled in her brown eyes and rolled back into her cropped auburn hair as the wind whipped past her. Pain wrapped around her heart as she remembered the life she had left behind. The sight of Tamahome and Hikari lying on her bed, shrouded in white floated before her blurry eyes. Then the faces of all her friends and family she had lost, including those in this world, passed before her mind's eye and she sobbed at the loss. She had buried the pain every time it had welled up in her, but it broke loose and she could not deny it any longer. She never even registered the calls of Chichiri behind her or heard the other horses galloping hard to catch her.

Tank, true to his training, did exactly what his rider wanted. She wanted as much speed as this glorious animal could provide, which was considerable since warhorses were bred to be sturdy and swift in battle. He tried to follow the path she set for him, but she wasn't even holding the reins anymore. Both her hands were gripping the rolled front of the padding on the front of the saddle. She was just along for the ride.

Behind her, the reflexes of the soldiers had finally kicked in. Chichiri was the first to shake off his bewilderment and chase the receding silhouette of the girl with the Lieutenant hot on his heels. The remainder of the column of men closed ranks and followed their leaders. All the men had realized that this woman/girl was somehow special to the Emperor. Only the two giants at the back had not been present to witness his Highness embrace her, and allow her to touch his royal person.

Chichiri yelled, "Mia stop! Miaka, STOP! COME BACK! You don't know where you're going!" His horse was slowly gaining on the gray gelding since Miaka was no longer spurring the beast forward. A clearing could be seen beyond the gray blur of the galloping horse and Chichiri could see that Miaka was headed straight for some low hanging branches. Kicking harder, Chichiri tried to close the gap so he could turn her horse before she was brushed off and hurt. When it became obvious that he could not cover enough ground in time, Chichiri raised his left hand and chanted an incantation. With a loud pop, the wizard disappeared in a puff of smoke, only to reappear directly behind Miaka on her horse. He lunged for the reins that were flopping loosely on the horse's withers and pulled back and slightly to the left with all his might. His instinct to protect her caused his arms to squeeze against her sides to prevent her from being tossed from the horse as he changed their course. Finally, after barely missing the branches, the warhorse slowed to a walk, huffing out great puffs of breath.

Miaka was still sobbing, and not really aware of what had occurred. All she knew was that suddenly, she was being surrounded by strong arm, and she twisted around so that her left arm wrapped around his left arm and she buried the side of her face into his shoulder, hiding in the crook of his arm. If she had not been sitting astride the great horse, she would have turned completely around and hidden her face in that familiar chest.

Chichiri was murmuring soothing words to the distraught woman and dropped the reins of the now stationary horse, and lifted her into his lap. With both of her legs now dangling over his left leg, she could grasp his vest with both hands and bury her face to hide her tears and muffle her sobs. The Lieutenant pulled up along side of them in a cloud of dust, and quickly reached over to grab the dangling reins to prevent any further headlong dashes. His men fanned out around the two on the gray gelding and tried not to watch the scene.

As her cries lessened, and Miaka regained control over her runaway emotions, she murmured into Chichiri's chest, "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have mentioned your friends. It was wrong of me to take out my frustrations on you. It's just been so hard…..and to have my friends not believe me. I just couldn't take it anymore." She hung her head in shame.

Chichiri lifted her face away from his vest and removed his mask. "It's alright Miaka. I know you didn't mean to hurt me. It's an old wound, and doesn't hurt as much as it used to. And I'm sorry I didn't believe you, you know. I didn't mean to make you cry." The tears in Miaka's eyes amplified the beauty of her big brown eyes as he watched her look over his uncovered face. She tried to smile a bit and traced a finger gently over the brow of his scar closed eye and then down his cheek. "I'm glad you trusted me enough to remove your mask. I missed seeing your true face. It may not have been a long time for you, but it's been a long time since I saw you last. I really missed you and the other warriors."

Kanai surveyed the area they had stopped in and made a snap decision. He shouted to his men, "Set up camp here. We are stopping for the night." In less than a minute, the men were a flurry of activity. Horses were being dismounted and saddles removed, while provisions suddenly appeared around graced the fire pit that was swiftly erected. In the middle of all this, Chichiri still sat holding Miaka on her horse. The grey animal had sidled up to a small bush and was munching happily on the juicy leaves. Finally taking note of all the action around her, Miaka shyly suggested, "Maybe we should get down and help them?" to which Chichiri just laughed, "Mia, I don't think you realize just how sore you are going to be once you dismount. You've ridden a lot farther than you realize, you know."

Lieutenant Kanai grinned at the image of the slight brunette sliding gracelessly off the warhorse and landing on watery legs that didn't even slow her descent to landing on the ground on her butt. He had seen it happen often enough with new recruits who were not accustomed to extended hours in the saddle. Some non-horse people thought riding was as relaxed as sitting still, but that was only because they never tried maintaining their center of gravity over an eighteen hundred pound bundle of moving, rippling muscle that was a horse, with nothing to hold on to.

True to Kanai's imagination Miaka tried her best to dismount properly, and ended up in a heap on the ground, a long way down from where her descent started. From the ground, Tank looked to be about twice as tall as she was when she was standing. Who decided warhorses had to be giants? Tank's big gray head came around to eye her curiously on the ground, and she could almost see amusement in those big, expressive eyes. If that weren't bad enough, she was suddenly whipped across the face by Tank's almost white tail. She hollered in indignation, "Hey! What am I a fly? I thought we had an agreement? You don't hurt me, and I don't try to control you?" More snickers came from the ranks of the men as Chichiri moved to gently pick her off the ground and practically carry her to the campfire. She swore she was permanently bowl legged from riding such a wide animal and her legs had turned to mush. The muscles on the inside of her thighs were totally exhausted and causing her legs to swing weirdly as she tried to walk. Who knew joining the military meant giving up the ability to walk a straight line?

The soldiers around them were actually very good at setting up camp and preparing a simple but filling dinner. As much as Miaka really wanted to dig into the large helping Chichiri had piled on her plate like she used to, she knew it would only come back to haunt her later, literally, if she over ate. She listened to the laughing men as she picked gingerly at her food, and very slowly consumed a few bites.

Chichiri watched her eat with concern. "Mia, are you not feeling well? Your younger self has been shocking us for weeks with the amount of food she could eat, you know. And I thought you would still have this quality, you know. Is everything okay?" The two didn't notice Lieutenant Kanai drift a bit closer at hearing this question.

Miaka picked up a few more pieces of her dinner and tried to place them in her mouth, but just couldn't stomach it and returned it to her plate. With a sigh she tried to explain, "Well, since… the… event… it's been hard to eat. I went a few weeks without eating anything because, I just couldn't see any reason to eat. Then, I would eat when I was hungry, but I never got hungry. Once I started forming my plan to return here, I had to force myself to eat to keep from collapsing." She placed the plate gently before her and placed her head in her hands and her elbows on her knees. "Today was the first time I've really been hungry in…. I don't know how long." She paused to gather her thoughts and Chichiri had enough presence of mind not to interrupt her. "I'm not sure if it's the stress of everything, or if it's the beginning of the sickness that… you know… took everyone away from me."

Chichiri reached over and squeezed her shoulder in support, and she raised her eyes to look at the concern in her friend's face. At least, he finally believed she was who she said she was. "Mia, what kind of sickness was it? Maybe we could have a doctor look at you and offer some medicine, you know?"

Miaka slipped off the log she had been sitting on, and sat by Chichiri's leg, and leaned into him. She sighed again. "It's not a big deal. There's no medicine that can help it if it is. But don't worry, it can't be spread. It's not really that kind of sickness. See, there is a protective shield of stuff around the planet that deflects the harmful effects of the sun. Without it, we would all be exposed to dangerous rays that would cause our bodies to break down from the inside out. That's what happened to my world. Several explosions went off way up there where the protective layer is and it was torn away. The harmful rays made everyone sick… except me." She fell silent again and her eyes took on that far away, dead look as she gazed into the fire without seeing it. She placed her right arm up on chichiri's thigh, and rested her head on her right arm. Without even really thinking about it, Chichiri ran his hands down her hair as if he were petting a cat.

After a respectful moment, Chichiri tried to bring her back to reality, and lighten the mood. He grabbed onto a blunt chunk of her unevenly cut hair and tugged it gently. "What happened to your lovely, long hair? It looks like someone attacked it with a knife, you know. Not to say that it doesn't make you look like a farm boy, but I don't think that's why you cut it, you know."

Miaka blinked a bit as she listened to her warrior, and finally realized what he was talking about. She snickered a bit and the sound grew. Finally, she was laughing gently at what she must truly look like. She had simply hacked off the shanks of hair that she needed without even considering how it looked. She didn't even try to cut it off evenly. "I just needed to cut my hair. I, snicker, can't tell you why just yet. But I bet it does look funny."

At that moment, the quiet, commanding voice of Lieutenant Kanai surrounded the two, "You may use my dagger if you wish to even up the 'soldier's hair. It would be a disgrace for someone representing the Emperor to be seen with such an unruly head of hair." The amusement was obvious in his voice. Miaka turned in surprise to see the large man resting close by, but not intruding on their privacy. She grinned as she thought of what this soldier must have thought of her when she approached the gates. "I appreciate the offer. I must look like a homeless urchin wandering the streets of the capital. What must you have thought of me when I approached the palace gates?"

A few of the men who had been stationed at the gate with the Lieutenant snickered under their breath at the reminder of what they had thought of her when she arrived. It wasn't until she had struck a fighting pose that they had taken her seriously. The fire light reflected amusement as the big man lowered his voice as if speaking in confidence, "You really don't want to know." At which Miaka snorted in mock indignation. He withdrew a wicked looking dagger and stuck it in the log next to Chichiri. He suggested, "While we are at it, let's have the healer take another look at that hand. It might help your riding ability to have the use of both."

The healer shuffled over with his box and unwrapped her left hand. Chichiri looked on in shock and had to ask, "Mia! What happened to your hand? Were you tortured?" He fought the urge to rip her hand out of this stranger's grip and treat it himself. She might be older, but she was still his priestess, and he lived to protect her. A stray thought crossed his concerned mind, 'She's as old as I am now.'

Miaka looked a bit uncomfortable and asked, "Would it be okay if I told you about that later? When there weren't so many ears around?" She looked up into his eyes and tried to express without words how crucial this was to her story of how she got here. And that it was a fact that should not be common knowledge. Chichiri acquiesced to her plea and let the subject drop.

She began groaning at her aching muscles and yawning before her hand was rewrapped. It was all she could do not to fall over into the warm relaxing fire. One of the soldiers had arranged a pallet for her to sleep on and Chichiri and the healer laid her on it after her hand was finished. Not a word passed her lips as her eyes fluttered shut and she was swept away into sleep.

Later that night, the camp quieted down with Chichiri sleeping to her right and Kanai to her left. The remainder of the soldiers were fanned out around them to create several layers of bodies that an intruder would have to tiptoe through to reach the woman. Two soldiers kept guard over their sleeping comrades.

Sometime in the deepest part of the night, Chichiri was wakened by whimpering and struggling sounds. He sat up abruptly and looked over to find Miaka thrashing about in a tortured sleep. He scooted over to embrace her and tried to calm her with shushing noises. They did not help to calm the nightmare she was experiencing. From behind him, Chichiri noticed a reddish glow and heard the call of a great hunting bird. His head turned with a snap as he stared in shock at the giant red phoenix that gently swooped down into the clearing to land without even stirring a blade of grass. The voice that came from Chichiri's mouth was awed and barely audible. "Suzaku!"

The great phoenix sparkled red and gold and slowly transformed into the image of a man with enormous red wings and red and gold armor on his shoulders, waist and wrists. A glowing symbol was visible on his forehead, and he strode forward with unmatched grace. Each step seemed more like the being was floating. His face was beautiful, even beyond the earthly beauty of Hotohori and Nuriko. His flaming red hair stood up surrounding his ethereal face as if a wind were blowing it gently.

Chichiri continued to simply stare and hug the struggling Miaka to his chest in hopes of calming her. Still, Suzaku glided between the sleeping soldiers towards their position by the fire. He stopped directly beside the two and bent slightly at the waist to touch Miaka's forehead. She instantly stilled in calm sleep. The god's fingers lovingly stroked down the side of her peaceful face before he straightened to his regal height of nearly seven feet tall.

The beast god's voice echoed through Chichiri's head as the deity addressed his priestess. "Sleep, priestess of Suzaku. Your journey is difficult yet I shall strengthen and watch over you." The intense golden eyes turned to stare into Chichiri's soul. "You, warrior of Suzaku, must protect this woman with your life. She has undertaken a task like no other and earned my respect and affections." And with one last screeching call, the deity reformed into the fiery phoenix and ascended back to the heavens. Chichiri sat staring at the stars where the red lights still seemed to sparkle among the stars. There was no way he would be able to return to sleep tonight.


	4. Chapter 4 Wake up already!

Disclaimer – still don't own anything but my law school debt and a lovely set of law textbooks.

Chapter 4

As predicted, Chichiri did not manage to return to sleep. He held the sleeping woman and pondered the day's and night's events. He had gone from traveling with a 15 year old priestess in the morning to traveling with an older version of the same girl in the afternoon. He had imitated the Emperor and heard a fascinating tale of time travel. He had learned that his friend and fellow warrior Tamahome had managed to join this Miaka in her world and they had married and had a child. This older version of the priestess wanted to offer this option to all her warriors. Being a lover of learning, the prospects of traveling to a completely foreign world appealed to him, but it disturbed him to know that that same world had been so completely devastated. It seemed that a world without divine protection and guidance was doomed to failure. How had this simple woman managed to rewrite the Universe of the Four Gods which was the past, present and future of these two worlds as written by celestial beings? And what about the visit by Suzaku in the night? Had this woman's distress called to the God?

His eyes turned from gazing at the stars to an awe filled inspection of this woman's features. She was still as lovely as the younger version he had left earlier, but her face was leaner and sharper. The innocent baby fat had melted away from her cheekbones and her face was longer. There were fine lines developing beside her eyes that evidenced many years of laughter. But there was also a more pronounced crease between her brows that spoke of pain, anger and frustration. Her lips were just as full as before, but were chapped and torn from being worried at by her teeth. Here eyes were just a beautiful, but held more wisdom and depth than the younger, more innocent version of herself.

This Miaka was a bit taller than her younger counterpart. Not to mention her frame was covered with lean muscles. Though, she retained the curviness that appeared after bearing a child. Her poor hair had seen better days, which he planned to rectify when she woke. The Lieutenant's dagger was still parked in the log behind them.

But the greatest changes he could see were not physical changes, but changes in her character. Her face, while just as beautiful, did not shine as brightly with unadulterated joy as the fifteen year old Miaka's face did. So far, her smiles had been tight and slightly reserved. More like Hotohori's smiles. Beautiful but still sad. More often than not, her smile was completely absent and her face looked haunted as she mentally drifted away from reality to relive her memories. He had seen that look many times in their afternoon march away from the capital.

Her personality had also changed, possibly due to the responsibilities of her life and the tragedies she had endured. He had still seen sparks of her childish humor, and scatterbrained-ness, but she seemed more … he couldn't really think of a better word than 'adult.' She seemed like an adult instead of a teenage girl. She had a quiet confidence that commanded respect though she tried to downplay it and remain unassuming. Her clumsiness seemed to have been replaced with more grace and agility. He had overheard two of the soldiers speculating over what type of training she had undergone and discussing her fighting style when she arrived at the palace gates. First on the mind of the soldiers had been who had bothered to train a girl? It was rather unusual. So, Chichiri had been surprised to discover that this "Mia" might be able to fight. When the soldiers gossip degraded into betting on who could beat the strange woman, Chichiri had tuned them out.

Dawn began to lighten the sky to the East ever so slightly, and the early morning birds heralded the beginning of a new day. Chichiri realized he was still cradling the gently sleeping woman in his arms and thought he ought to return to his own sleeping spot to prevent any embarrassment or awkwardness. It had felt right staying in the position he had been in when Suzaku had spoken to him. It had been a shock to see the deity in person in this world. Chichiri assumed that they must have successfully summoned Suzaku in Mia's past, but this was the first meeting between the God and this warrior. It had made his entire body tingle, and his mark of being a Suzaku warrior had flared to life with incredible power in the presence of its maker.

Chichiri wondered if he should mention this unexpected visitor to the sleeping woman. Was it important that Suzaku was watching over her? Never in all his years or any of his studies, had he heard of a God personally watching over an individual. The Fates wrote all of their individual stories, and people were nothing more than insignificant specks in the vastness of life to a God. This was defiantly something he would have to bring up with Taiitsukun after the quest was over. He thought there were some things even that all knowing witch could not possibly know.

Mia woke groggy and sore. "Ugh, did anyone get the license plate of the ice cream truck that hit me?" How could it be morning already? She had just closed her eyes ten seconds ago! For a moment, she felt like pitching herself onto her stomach and pounding the ground and kicking and screaming 'it's not fair' in a childish tantrum. But, then her maternal side flinched and scolded her for even thinking of creating such a childish display! If her daughter had witnessed such a thing, she would have imitated her and used it against her. A smile crossed her face as the image played across her sleep muddled mind. She unconsciously listened for sounds on the baby monitor of Hikari rousing from sleep. It was always the funniest range of noises, and her sleepy mind always tried to guess what the toddler was doing. Once, she peeked in to see the infant sitting up in the crib, actually chewing on the thick, rubber antenna of the one-way baby monitor base unit. Good thing they are made to be chew and slobber proof. That had been the day the baby monitor had been mounted on the wall behind the crib, well out of reach of slimy little baby fingers.

Strange sounds reached her ear that had nothing to do with Hikari waking. There were birds chirping, leaves rustling, flames crackling and men talking. Had they gone camping? The bed was rather uneven and hard, like she was sleeping on the ground. Hmm. Camping. They had loved to venture out at least once a month when the weather was nice. Tamahome loved to get back to nature since it made him feel a bit more at home. And Hikari loved to catch all the insects and fireflies she possibly could. She never hurt the 'little pretties,' she just loved to put them in jars and make homes for the poor orphan bugs. Miaka didn't mind her catching fireflies, but had to draw the line when the child was picking up little tree frogs and trying to put them in her backpack to bring home as pets. It had been a long discussion to try and explain that the whole outdoors was the home of these happy animals. It wasn't until Tama had mentioned that she would be taking them away from their happy little frog families that Hikari had caved and decided to leave them be.

Pain in her entire body began rousing her out of her sleepy thoughts. Something just didn't seem right. Had she trained last night? Usually her sensei went especially hard on her since she was one of the older students in his class. That, and the man seemed to fancy her a bit. He truly looked like a more masculine version of Noriko with a more conservative sense of clothing. Still, he would wail on her if she had not been practicing as hard as he thought she should. He told her she was his star pupil, and needed to be the best since he was counting on her to bring the dojo honor in the tournaments. It had gotten so bad at one point that Tamahome confronted the man and the two men had nearly beaten each other senseless. Sensei had become less aggressive in her training after that, even to the point of insisting she take it easy during her pregnancy. He had eventually even become on of Tamahome's best friends, after her brother and Tetsuya. Sensei's idea of a bachelor party had been quite amusing and the four men had been almost incapacitated for the wedding rehearsal held the next day. She had put her foot down at the idea of having the party the night before the wedding. She had heard some of the stories from sensei's other friends' bachelor parties, where the groom was trapped in another province, without clothes or money or identification. She would not have her wedding ruined after she and Tamahome had worked so hard to save up the money to pay for it themselves.

Something was shaking her shoulder as her mind tried to drift back to sleep with images of her wedding day. Her name was being called by a masculine voice. She groaned, "Five more minutes, Tama. Hikari isn't even up yet." Then swatted at her shoulder. The voice was louder and more insistent as the shaking continued. She tried to ignore it, really she did, but finally she angrily opened her eyes with a loud, "What is it!"

Staring down at her was a grinning Chichiri face with mask in place. His light blue hair was carefully tucked into a soldier's cap with just his wild, spiky bangs peeking out. "Sorry to wake you from such a peaceful sleep. But if you don't get up now, you'll miss out on a lovely breakfast, you know. I think some of these soldiers can eat as much as you can. Plus, we need to get an early start to avoid suspicion, you know." He moved back on his haunches and allowed room for her to sit up.

Reality crashed back down on Miaka in a heartbeat. 'That's right. I'm in Konan looking for the Shinzaho. Tama and Hikari are…' her mind blanked as she slowly looked around. Soldiers were efficiently breaking down camp and stowing all their gear on the pack animals. Lieutenant Kanai was walking about supervising his troops and issuing an occasional order, or encouragement. She and Chichiri were the only things in the camp not hustling around.

Chichiri handed her a plate and cup as he settled beside her on the log to eat his portion of breakfast. She finally registered what was in her hands when the wonderful smell reached her nose. It made her stomach grumble with hunger that caused Chichiri to laugh. The old Miaka resurfaced, and the food was quickly consumed. He even offered her his toast as he caught her eyeing it with desire. Once the dishes were returned to the cook, Chichiri smirked at the subject her needed to address.

Miaka's legs. She had yet to really move because her legs felt like jelly. Oh, it wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, it just wasn't something she wanted to face just yet. It was going to be torture trying to stand up and do anything that required her to bend her legs at all. Walking was going to be difficult, and using the bushes was going to be impossible. She had no idea how she was going to remain in the saddle today.

After stalling as long as she could, she finally pushed up onto her knees and tried to stand. There was no way she could repress the groan that escaped her. This was going to be bad. She finally glanced shyly over to the ever watchful Chichiri and asked, "Um, do you think you could give me a hand? It seems like my legs don't work today." Chichiri assured her he would, and reached over to hoist her into a standing position without her doing anything at all. She sighed then added, "Um, do you think you could help me with a little matter involving bushes and relieving myself?" It just wasn't fair that men could go standing up. Lucky jerks!

After their little embarrassing trip to the bushes, Chichiri took hold of the Lieutenant's dagger and announced, "We need to do something with your hair before we leave, you know." Several soldiers made comments, suggestions and rude noises as her hair was evened out and layered to look more like Tamahome's minus the pony tail. It was as short as Yui's and actually looked rather nice framing her face with the shaggy locks. It was just another thing that differentiated her from her younger self. She ran her hands through the new hairstyle and laughed at herself. This would take getting used to. But at least she didn't have to worry about hair ribbons now.

With a stern look, Lieutenant Kanai approached the two. He cleared his throat and glared at Chichiri. "I hear from my camp guards that we had an unexpected visitor last night. Care to enlighten me? And is this going to be a usual occurrence?"

Well, so much for the idea of keeping the visit a secret. Chichiri turned serious eyes towards Mia. "It seems that last night we had a visit from Suzaku." Mia looked at him with disbelief and shock and questioned, "Why would he come here?" Chichiri shrugged his shoulders, "He came while you were having nightmares and touched you to settle you down. He said he would strengthen and watch over you on this journey, you know. Then he said I must protect you and that you had earned his respect and affections. It was really amazing, you know."

She simply chewed on her already chapped lips and pondered over this. Why would one of the Four Gods watch over her? She was just a simple woman. Kanai cleared his throat and suggested, "Well, we might want to camp in isolated areas to avoid notice if Suzaku is going to be making surprise appearances at night. It would definitely blow our cover if citizens witnessed their God descend from the stars." Then he clapped his hands together and grinned a sly, almost evil grin, "Enough of that. Time to get you back up on your horse. Think you can mount on your own? Or do we have to throw you up there?"

Mia growled at the thought of using her leg muscles at all, and dreaded the idea of spending more time in the saddle. She placed her hands on the ground and straightened her legs then pulled her torso up to a standing position like she was doing toe-touches in P.E. She walked very slowly over to Tank without bending her knees. She looked like Frankenstein in that old horror movie her brother made her watch when she was six.

Standing next to him, Tank appeared to tower at least ten feet tall. His big gray head turned to eye her. Could horses laugh? Because she was sure she had just heard him snicker followed by a sigh of exasperation. She petted the gray sides of the beast and defended herself "Hey, I'm doing the best I can here. How about a little sympathy? You know, you could help by lying down so I could just sit on you. I mean, elephants do that and handicapped friendly horses do that."

Lieutenant Kanai laughed a deep, hearty laugh that rolled through the camp as he approached behind her. With a practiced move, the big man kicked gently at the horse's front hooves and barked the command "Stretch!" Surprisingly, the warhorse stepped forward with his front legs, but kept his back legs in place. The Lieutenant kicked the front hooves again and the horse took another step forward, leaving his back legs planted. She looked on in awe as she realized that this monstrous horse was actually stretching and her saddle was coming down to a more manageable height. She giggled and admitted, "What a smart horse! Thank you Tank." And patted his muscular side.

With a grab onto the saddle and a tremendous grunt, Mia was on her way towards being mounted. Somewhere in the middle, she lost momentum, and came back down to the ground. Hmph! She spit on her hands, rubbed them together, and grasped the saddle again. With more of a determined look on her face, she bounced on her right foot and tried to lift most of her weight up without using the muscles of her left leg. Her left foot got a bit twisted in the stirrup, and again, she didn't quite make it. But this time, a hand made contact with her rump and shoved her the rest of the way up. With a loud "Eep", she slung her right leg over the saddle and was seated. Neither face below her held any indication as to which of the two men had 'boosted' her up into the seat. So, she glared at both of them and turned Tank to walk away from them with as much dignity as she could muster.

Behind her, Chichiri and Kanai exchanged glances and smirks. They would never tell.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

AN – yes, it's a shorter chapter than usual, but I just thought it was a funny place to end. I can just picture these two grinning like fools and keeping their secret. The story will move on about some more problems they come across on their way to retrieve the first Shinzaho. Who will appear to try and stop them? And will Mia rebel and toss out the weird little soldier's hat? Once her muscles calm down, there may be some sparring with some of the soldiers. Wouldn't it just be a shame for our little Mia to open up a modern era can of whup ass on a trained soldier? I mean, let's face it, the 15 year old Miaka did pretty well when she was "scrapping" in the alley before Tamahome saved her, not to mention my favorite scene, where she is tied up but still hopping around, biting bandits.

And the question people might have been wondering… who was behind the explosions that ripped away protective layer of the atmosphere in her modern age? An old enemy? An old ally turned enemy? A new player that we haven't seen before?

Also – when picturing Mia, think about how much older she looked in the OVA where she is pregnant and they are celebrating. She looks older, but still the same, leaner, and without those awful hair buns on the side of her head that looked like mouse ears!

Please review, it makes me feel like I'm not writing just for myself.


	5. Chapter 5 Observations and storytelling

AN: Rough picture of what Mia looks like in Konan soldier gear can be found at

http colon slash slash www dot deviantart dot com slash deviations slash 54091511 slash

replace the appropriate symbols for colon, slash, and dot since this site won't accept such.

Sorry not too good with hands. And Konan needs a fashion consultant to revamp their wardrobe. Too many drab colors.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Mia rode among the soldiers like she had been glued to Tank's saddle. Of course, with the way her lower extremities felt, she almost had to be to stay on. Still fuming over the "boost" she received that morning, she held back from talking to the men for most of the morning. She simply watched the beauty of the living world around her. Had it just been a few days since she had lamented about missing the sounds of birds and children playing? Every town they passed through, groups of children played childish games of tag and giggled in reckless abandon. No evil was beating on their doorstep yet.

Strange, how it took such a horrible tragedy to make her appreciate the simple pleasures in life. Though, she had always enjoyed the pleasures like eating and good friends, reveling in nature was new to her. She had enjoyed the outdoors, but this was almost a religious experience. Every breath of breeze and every tossing leaf had more significance than she could ever imagine. Part of it was because she had witnessed the horror of them being taken away. The other part was an innate knowledge on her part, that when her mission was completed, she would never witness it again.

Somehow, she knew that she was slowly carving herself out of the flow of time. Like a bend in a river that carves so far into the bank, that eventually, the river bypasses it and moves on a different course. Every move she took was changing the future of the younger Miaka, and therefore, altering her own past. What she had experienced would never come to pass, IF she were successful. Essentially, she would have nothing to return to. Her life would take a different track, and she would cease to exist in that time frame. Her younger self would live past the point where she had left her world, and her life would be gone. Hopefully, her regrets and sorrows would also be erased. So, where did that leave her? She would either disappear, or end up somewhere else. Never would she be able to go back to her world, because she would already be there, living her life. But, her meager, pitiful existence was worth the price to save her friends and family from annihilation.

A deep sigh escaped her chapped lips as they rode further to the north. She noticed that when they galloped into the low lands, that the air turned quite crisp and chilly. At that time, she was thankful for the helmet she wore that had a flap that hung down around her neck and shoulders. Though, who ever designed these uniforms really needed some help from a fashion designer. What was with these people? Didn't they have any pride in their appearance? She remembered some of the outfits that Nuriko and Tamahome wore and wanted to look like that. Still, the uniform would suffice to keep her warm, and might even provide a bit of shielding if they were attacked by arrows or something of that nature.

But, darn if she didn't feel like an ugly boy wearing those colors! She smiled a tiny smile as she remembered her little secret of wearing her frilly, silk camisole under the rough army-issued shirt. She could just imagine the look on the poor guy's face if she were injured in such a manner that her shirt had to be removed. It would be like a scene from a manga!

Feeling somehow lighter about the whole disappearing future, she looked around to see what the others were up to. Chichiri was still riding faithfully to her right, and Lieutenant Kanai was still riding faithfully to her left. Somewhere during the morning, she had realized that the second in command's name was Suitani. He looked like a skinny version of her older brother but with a ragged scar running down his face from his left temple to his jaw. As far as she could tell, this Assistant Lieutenant rarely spoke. She only knew his name because Kanai used it so often. It was rather hard to miss when the name was yelled out in his deep baritone. Suitani rode just to Kanai's left and a bit to the rear, to carry out any commands that were barked at him.

Of the five guards that rode before them, she could only make out any distinguishing features of two of them. One was wider than the rest (she hated to say anyone was fat) and the other seemed to have legs that dragged the ground. Maybe he just had a really short horse. By the end of the day, she expected to know some of their names, simply because that was her nature. It would be rude to expect these men to protect her when she didn't even know their names.

With a slight smile, she turned her upper body to face Chichiri. "Chichiri, can I ask you a favor?" She waited for his assent and continued, "Um, I was wondering if you could use your… whatever you use…to look in on the other group and see about where they are right now? I mostly remember how long things took, but I want to make sure I've got the timing right."

Chichiri was shocked for a moment wondering how she knew he could do that. Then it dawned on him that she had traveled more extensively with him as her younger self than he had realized up until this moment. Of course she had seen him do more things than he had done so far. That was probably how she knew about his dead best friend and his fiancé. Chichiri agreed, "Sure. At the next stop, I need to travel back to the palace to reinforce the illusion of the Emperor, you know. It would be nothing to peek in on the others before I did that, you know." He moved his mount closer to Tank and asked with a wink, "So, when are you going to tell me about that hand, and your hair, you know?"

She chuckled and unconsciously reached a hand up under her helmet flaps to twirl a strand of the shortened auburn hair and answered coyly, "What? Don't you think it's just a new fashion in hair? Maybe it's just a futuristic style? Why, the men of my time might just go wild for a girl with ragged hair. Besides, it's so much easier to care for than that long old mess that you have." Chichiri's eyes shone with a mischievous twinkle as he clearly didn't believe her. She finally relented and agreed, "I'll tell you all about it at the next stop. It's not that great a story. You'll probably be disappointed."

Without warning, the sky turned black and the clouds swirled and boiled with anger. Lightning crashed about on all sides of the column of soldiers like a net trapping them. Mia felt herself tense and prepare for something, though she didn't know what. Shockingly, none of the horses reacted to the deafening noise. Probably because they were used to battle and canons. Poor things.

A huge booming voice screamed out from the tempest, "What do you think you are doing?!" The sound made chills run down Mia's spine as she glanced over to Chichiri. Recognition sparked in his eyes so she tried to rack her brain to see if she knew the voice. Unnoticed, the soldiers closed rank around the female in their group in a defensive maneuver.

Directly in front of them, a small, round, gray mass started to take shape. Then, POP, Taiitsukun materialized. Her normally angry looking face was practically livid with rage. She floated within striking distance of the foremost positioned soldiers and yelled at Mia. "You have no right to change history. You can't do this. Fates are already written and sealed. This will only cause chaos and destruction. What you are attempting is impossible. Go back to your own world!"

Miaka was struck dumb for a moment as her brain processed the sudden appearance of the grandmotherly figure that wrote the Universe of the Four Gods. Then, her hateful words sunk in and sparked a flame of anger in the battered woman. Her stern voice started low and grew in volume as she responded. "No right? Fates sealed? Impossible? Well, excuse me, but there already is chaos and destruction. I can't go back to my world, because it's been destroyed! Maybe you didn't notice that while you were over here playing God with people's lives. How could you let such awful things happen? I saw my friends die, when they didn't need to. You could have told me about the last warrior. You could have shown up a few moments earlier and prevented me from tossing the scroll into the flame! But you chose to do NOTHING!" Pain momentarily stole her breath as she continued in a harsh raspy voice. "My friends died in front of me. My family died in front of me…my husband… my baby. The whole world died in front of me. But, for some reason I lived on. Why? Why! Because of that stupid book! If what I'm doing is impossible, then why did Suzaku give me his blessing? Why did he allow me to cross over for this purpose of righting my mistakes?" Her skin took on a reddish glow as Mia looked at the old woman with anger and pain. "I'm going to fix these mistakes. I'm going to save the lives of my friends. I'm going to stop my world from being destroyed. And I'm going to do it with or without your help!" The wind around the group picked up and whipped at the lashings of their uniforms and saddles. Chichiri had a hard time holding onto his helmet as he realized that the source of the gale came from Miaka herself.

The booming voice of Taiitsukun was heard over the roar of the competing powers. "I will stop you from altering this story. You have not proven yourself worthy of summoning Suzaku." The lightning struck the ground even closer to the tightening group and even split a tree just to their right.

Miaka glared at the withered old lady and began to laugh. The sound was quiet at first and grew. "You are going to stop me? Not with Suzaku on my side you are not. And how dare you say I'm not worthy. I have summoned Suzaku and wielded his powers without being consumed like the priestesses before me. Besides, you are too late. I have already changed this story from this point on; nothing will be as it was. Even if I fail, I will leave behind enough information to see that life does not follow that original story. I have given my life for this opportunity, and you will not be allowed to take it away from me!"

With that shouted to the heavens, red lightning rained down on the area and evaporated the storm clouds and dispelled the lightning. In the hush following the outburst, Taiitsukun floated soundlessly before them, still in a threatening manner. Then, just as suddenly as she appeared, she smiled gratefully and vanished.

Kanai shifted in his saddle. The creaking of the leather the only sound in the clearing. He looked at the riled up woman and asked, "Friend of yours?"

Miaka whipped her head around to face the Lieutenant, sparks still almost flying out of her eyes. Slowly, his question registered, and he watched her body loosen up. The eerie red glow faded and a sheepish grin grew on her stern face. Her voice was low and a bit embarrassed as she answered, "Um, you could say that. Though, she's not my biggest fan." A bark of laughter rumbled from one of the huge soldiers in the rear, which drew her attention. She swiveled in the saddle to look back at the rear guard. The two archers were poised and loaded, ready to open fire on any target. The two sumo wrestler wannabes were holding lances that looked sinister and deadly. The rest of the soldiers held an assortment of hand and throwing weapons at the ready. It was humbling to realize that all these men had been willing to battle this world's most powerful wizards to keep her safe.

In a tiny voice she turned back to the Lieutenant and asked, "Would now be a good time to stop and eat? Losing my temper makes me hungry." More laughter followed this statement as battle-ready bodies relaxed and weapons were sheathed. A few harsh orders and bodies started moving like bees as the camp was set up and the noon meal begun.

Miaka dismounted with grace this time and managed to land on her feet instead of her rear. Tank's big head turned towards her and eyed her with, what she hoped, was respect. Even the big gray horse knew what he should do when they stopped for camp, and he headed over to the handler for some water and his own snack.

Lieutenant Kanai pointed to an area of the clearing and shouted, "Hand to hand sparring over there." He pointed to another area, "Hand to sword there." Then pointed to a third area, "Sword to sword there. Practice until you break a sweat. No need to get lazy and rusty on this trip." So, while the food was being cooked, the men divided up to spar.

Chichiri and Mia chose to wander in the direction away from the activity and sat near a stream. Mia asked, "Is there any way you can put up a barrier so we aren't heard?" He tapped his chin for a moment, then pulled a sutra out of his sleeve. "This should do the trick, you know." And set to chanting.

Mia unwound the bandage from her left hand and inspected the cuts. It had been roughly a day since she had materialized in Konan. So much had happened and so much could go wrong.

After a quick look into Chichiri's hat to make sure the younger Miaka was on schedule, she started to explain her hand and hair. "Well, like I said, it's not very exciting. When everyone was gone in my world, the book reappeared. You know, the book The Universe of the Four Gods. That's how I got here. I was pulled into the book when I started reading it back 9 years ago. Well, after my last trip here, the book vanished. I assumed that the story was complete, and I would never return. So, you can imagine what a puzzle it was to find the book again."

Mia showed Chichiri the intricate patterns of cuts and scabs on her left hand. "I found that regular ink and pencil lead did not remain on the pages. Every mark vanished like the pages were absorbing them. Then, I accidentally got some blood on a page and it stayed. I pulled out a quill pen, and wrote a letter in the blood, and it stayed too. When it dried, it looked exactly like the ink from the previous story. Then, I got the idea to write my story in between the story of my younger self, to try and keep certain tragedies from happening." Chichiri reached over and took her hand and gently inspected the cuts and ran a finger lightly over her palm. "It took a long time to figure out what to write and where I wanted to end up. Then, I set out to write my story in blood. It took quite a while, and as you can see, I didn't expect it to use so much blood." She laughed a bit at herself and her naivety.

She removed her helmet with her right hand, and set it on the ground beside her. Absently, she ran that same hand through her hair, knowing she had a terrible case of "helmet head" hair. She snorted a bit and continued, "About the hair, well, that's part of the story I wrote. See, in the past, something of my world was used to connect me to home when I was here. At first it was my school uniform. Then there were a set of rings that Tamahome and I wore." Chichiri nodded and released her wounded hand as he commented, "So, you needed a connection?"

She nodded, "But it's more than that. See, my final wish is that the warriors can be reincarnated into my world like Tamahome was. I thought that each warrior could choose if he wanted to come, after he was done being reincarnated and doing whatever he was destined to do in this world. He could bring his family, friends and loved ones with him, and we could all be a huge family in my world. You would get to bring your fiancé and best friend, and if you wanted, a love for your friend, so history would not repeat itself." She looked at the utter shock on Chichiri's face and knew that this would be hard to accept.

"See, what made me think of this was a dream that Tamahome had in the past when he was dying in a battle. He dreamed of our wedding day. The strange thing was that his deceased father was there, along with his brothers and sisters who had died. All the warriors were there with their families and loved ones. As I sat in my destroyed world, with the bodies of my husband and daughter, I remembered the dream, and I wanted that. It may be selfish of me, but I wanted all my friends back." Tears formed in her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. "I wanted a wedding day where everyone was there to share the joy with us. I also wanted everyone to have their own special love, not like Hotohori is now, thinking he loves my younger self." She reached over and grasped Chichiri's hand and looked into his eyes and continued, "I want you to have your love back and your best friend."

She let go and leaned back to watch the water flow along in the little stream. "With all of you together with my younger self, I'm sure we can discover the cause of the destruction of my world, and somehow prevent it."

A minute passed as she dreamed of the future of her younger self, wishing she could experience it too. "About the hair…. I tried to think of anything that I had that would link you guys to my younger self. And I came up with the hair. I cut off quite a few bundles and put them in my bag for all of you. That was the only thing I could think of. Knowing you and Taiitsukun, I figured you could do something with it."

She stood and looked down at her blue haired friend and laughed, "See, I told you it was a boring story. No damsels in distress, no dragons to fight. Just me and a pair of scissors." As he rose to his feet, Chichiri laughed and announced, "Well, thank you for telling me, you know. It's a lot to think about. But for now, I've got to go supervise my Emperor illusion, you know. Don't want it doing anything too out of the ordinary, you know." And with a smile and a flourish, he held out his hat and stepped into it.

Mia wandered back towards camp, carefully picking up the sutra and tucking it in her pocket. Never knew when that could come in handy. Kanai saw her returning alone, minus the bandage around her hand and called over the healer to look at it again. Mia watched the men spar for a while as her hand was re-goo-ed and bandaged. She leaned towards Kanai and whispered, "Can I practice too? I haven't worked up a good sweat in a while. Although, I'll definitely need a place to bathe tonight if I do."

The Lieutenant looked over the slight figure that looked like a twelve year old boy and grinned. "Sure, you can fight some of the smaller guys, but don't complain to me if you get hurt. My job is to get you to your destination, not to pamper you like a princess. But, if you hold your own, I might be persuaded to look for a deep pond for bathing."

Mia grinned with a cocky tilt to her head, and stalked to the hand to hand sparring area, looking for her first victim.

Back at the palace, Chichiri materialized under the desk of the Emperor. His illusionary Hotohori was sitting there looking despondent with his head in his hands. None of the advisors were around, so it was the perfect opportunity to take its place. Chichiri easily morphed into the likeness of the Emperor, and set about checking on the success of his illusion.

It wasn't hard to set up such an illusion. All it took was a bit of thought and planning to determine the actions and reactions to build in. It was the unexpected that was hard to plan for. If things got too bad, he would just have to make his illusion ill and force it to stay in the Emperor's chambers.

As he wandered through the palace, no one seemed unduly alarmed or upset. It seemed his illusion had been responding appropriately to the mundane events presented to it. But, just to be safe, he found the head minister and announced his plans, as the Emperor, to spend the next few days in prayer for the safety of the Priestess of Suzaku. It was something Hotohori would have done, and it would simplify things greatly.

So, Chichiri made his way back to the office, and pulled out the scroll that was stuck to the underside of the desk. He made his slight adjustments to it, and then reactivated it with a chant and a burst of chakra. A three dimensional likeness of the Emperor coalesced and set off to the temple. Chichiri returned to his normal appearance, and stepped back into his hat.

To any untrained eye, it would look like Chichiri just dropped out of the tree to land next to the Lieutenant. Only Mia and Kanai really knew that he had been gone. As he looked around to reorient himself to the activities of the camp, Kanai leaned over with a conspiratorial grin and announced, "You're just in time to watch your little Priestess humble some of my men."


	6. Chapter 6 The name's Mia, not Princess!

Chapter 6

Mia smiled to herself in a satisfied way as she soaked in the luxuriously hot, tub of water. The grime from the traveling and the afternoon's sparring floated away as she scrubbed. She couldn't help but giggle as she remembered "humiliating" one of the company's warriors. She came away with several purpling bruises and a few cuts, but the sparkling humor in Chichiri's and Kanai's eyes had made it all worthwhile. That, and this wonderful bath.

She had stalked over to the hand to hand combat area and sat in the shade, evaluating the soldiers. It reminded her of watching tournaments for her Sensei. She wasn't only a competitor, back at home, but it was also her job to analyze the competition and coach her friends. No telling how many styles she had witnessed, and discovered weaknesses that could be exploited. This was no different.

She knew what she wanted. A bath! And she knew what she had to do to get one. Beat a few soldiers. Her eyes narrowed like a bird of prey as she watched with mounting determination. She wanted a bath and these guys were not going to stop her!

The long legged soldier who rode in the forward guard turned out to be named Morishita. She watched his equally long arms and saw that his reach would put her at a disadvantage if she chose him as her opponent. True, she could come in low and fast, but he seemed to be able to move those long arms like whips around his body to create a physical shield. He was fighting the large man who the surrounding spectators taunted as Ohara. The jeering was annoying and slowly, she tuned it out as she watched.

Morishita knocked Ohara onto his rump with a lightning swift round-house kick, and the spectators let out a cheer. Ohara grinned and accepted the hand of the lanky man as they ended their little bout. The two sumo wrestler types stood stonily watching on the far side of the impromptu circle. A slight man, who looked like a rat, stepped up to take Ohara's place. This newcomer had dark, beady eyes, a sharp nose and no chin. Mia looked again and snorted. It really looked like his neck went all the way up to his mouth.

Several soldiers hooted and hollered at this new challenger who was named Nishi. Mia watched his feet and his form and realized that this slight man was solid muscle. His size was deceptive. The little battle lasted only a few minutes before Nishi swept Morishita's long legs right out from under him. It seemed that knocking your opponent to the ground was the signal of victory in this strange ring. Again, the spectators let out a shrill cheer of approval. None of the men seemed to mind getting taken down and got back up to congratulate the winner.

Next up was a truly hairy man. Mia snickered comparing this man to Chewbaka from the American movie Star Wars. He had a single, huge bushy eyebrow that totally shadowed his eyes. And his lower face was covered with a moustache and beard. His features were totally obscured except for his nose. Chewbaka's name turned out to be Tashima. Apparently, with the jests of "old man," this was the oldest regular soldier in the bunch. Funny, he didn't look that old, and there was no grey speckling his hair, brow or facial hair.

This battle lasted longer than the two she had watched. It seemed that rat-man and Chewbaka were fairly evenly matched. Several punches landed, but none with enough force to knock either man to the ground. Finally, after both had worked up a sweat, Chewbaka went down in a volley of hits.

Mia kept watching the matches but felt the presence of a soldier sidle up to her right. She could feel the eyes watching her and finally heard a rough voice ask, "So, _Princess_, do you enjoy watching real men fight?" There was a barely perceivable sneer in that voice that set her anger to boiling. How many times had she heard that tone over the last nine years?

Mia turned her narrowed eyes to size up this annoyance next to her. His eyes spoke of hate, and his scowl seemed etched on his face permanently. There was a nasty, puckered scar that ran across his mouth and down his neck to disappear in his tunic. In her mind, Mia nodded and thought, "Yup, woman-hater. He probably kicks little kids too." She refrained from her evil little smile that she felt building in her head as she calculated his apparent abilities and her advantages.

He was not one of those that had been at the gate with her when she had confronted the men. He would underestimate her ability. It was a given. His arm reach was similar to hers, since he was not a large man. Though, she could tell by the blunt look of his meaty hands that he was used to smashing people that got in his way, and if he made contact with her it would hurt… a lot. His upper arms and thighs were solid, which spoke of power behind his punches and kicks. She would have to use her speed at dodging and quick attacks to win. This would not be a pretty show for the crowds. This would not be an exhibition. This would be a nasty, knock-down, drag-out brawl. Suddenly, her blood was singing in her veins, anticipating using up some of her latent anger and frustration.

She finally allowed her smirk to change her placid expression and issued her challenge. "Real men? Hah! I could beat these men with my eyes closed." Woman-hater's face turned an ugly shade of red, and his fisted hands began to shake. Around them, the spectators that had heard the exchange went silent in shock and awe. Her inner voice was crowing with glee as she watched the idea of challenging her dawn in this angry man's mind.

Spit was forming at the corner of his mouth as he growled, "Want to put your boast to the test? Let's see how you do against me, _Princess_!" Slowly, Woman-hater moved into the circle of waiting soldiers and Chewbaka looked startled. The Old fuzzy man put his hands up in a placating gesture, "Come on, Yamane. We are here to protect her. It wouldn't be right for you to hurt the Lady." More spit came from this warped, scarred mouth as he barked, "She asked for it. No one insults me and gets away with it!" The lanky man, Morishita looked worried also and moved forwards as if to stop this nonsense. The angry man, Yamane, shoved them both out of the ring and turned his angry eyes to her and mock bowed. "Well, _Princess_. Let's see what you've got."

Mia smiled her most beautiful, innocent smile that she knew made her look like her younger self. It was all she could do to keep herself from rubbing her hands together and laughing like an evil cartoon character. Oh, this was going to be fun, and it was going to earn her a BATH! In her mind she laughed menacingly, "Bwuhuhaha." just for fun.

As she expected, angry Yamane jumped her before she had made her way all the way to the starting point in the middle of the impromptu ring. It didn't matter. She saw it coming from a mile away. If nothing else, this ape was good at telegraphing his movements in such a big way, a child could have seen what he was up to. She figured he made up for style and skill with brute force.

A careful step to the left, and his fist flew by where she had been standing. Before he had even passed her, she had pivoted all her weight onto her left foot, and brought her right leg up and kicked him full force in the gut. Normally, she wore shin guards, but it turned out that the army issue leggings worked in much the same way to muffle the impact on her leg. Too bad he was wearing the padded armor like she was around his torso. She could have broken a few of his ribs with that attack.

She knew it hurt the angry man, because Sensei had purchased a kick pad that had a force sensor in it. She knew she could kick in excess of 100 pounds per square inch of pressure. It had taken her a long time to build up to that strength that he longer legged students could achieve easily. But it just made it more rewarding to her to reach that goal.

The innocent smile on her face warped into an evil, battle face that she had perfected for tournaments long ago. She loved to surprise and un-nerve her opponents. Intimidation was a wonderful battle tactic.

Around them, the other soldiers gasped at her making first contact in the first few seconds. She didn't draw blood, so you couldn't say it was "first blood" but it was still impressive.

As Mia was following through with her right leg from the kick, she pivoted all the way around before placing it back on the ground. She ended facing the angry Yamane as he straightened with a grunt. She didn't think he was stupid, and she expected he would either charge again like a bull, though unlikely, or he would wade in close enough to take several shots at her.

When he was facing her again, he moved slower towards her. Ah, wading in. It would not be hard to dance around and stay out of his reach, but she knew that it would be harder to make contact now. He was bunched up in a protective stance where he could lash out with a meaty fist without opening himself up much. So, she devised a strategy. She would dance around him, making him take shots that would miss until he was frustrated enough to lunge at her again.

She lost count of how many times she moved in towards his left side, just barely within range to taunt him into taking a shot. His hands would lash out towards her and she would brush them away with a cross-body block. Before he could withdraw his punch, she would strike his exposed side then leap away before his follow up punch. As their dance continued, she could read the evidence of frustration in his eyes. It also showed in his dropped hands and wilder shots. Finally, the lunge came. His left fist lashed out at her, immediately followed by him stepping towards her with his right foot and his right fist. She ducked under his flying fists and moved a step into his body. She straightened from her crouch and her right hand flew up to strike him under the chin with the heel of her hand. When she felt the hard contact, she saw his head snap hard back. In the next instant, she knelt back down and swept his unbalanced legs out from under him. With a loud, "Ouuf!" the shocked Yamane hit the ground on his butt.

The clearing was deathly silent for two heartbeats before all the spectators went wild cheering. The four previous sparring partners swarmed in to slap her mercilessly on the back. Apparently, from the disjointed comments she could catch, beating Yamane was something that was not easy to accomplish. Two of the men that had not sparred yet eagerly offered to take her on next. She laughed, since they looked so eager, they reminded her of bouncing, puppies, wanting to play.

As the group moved a little to the side of the sparring area, a shout rang from behind them. They all turned to see Yamane barreling furiously at them. His target, Mia. She tried to dodge, but the other men were too close, and she could not evade. So, she tried to block the incoming fists. Though, she was not hit by his meaty fists, her blocks did nothing to stop his momentum as he plowed shoulder first into her body like an American football player.

Mia and three of the men behind her went sprawling to the ground like bowling pins with this raging madman on top of her. Her head hit the ground with a sickening sound while meaty fists rained down on her fallen figure. Even with a blurry mind, she blocked most of the blows. The ones that made it through her defenses hurt like hell.

Suddenly, the raging man's weight was removed from her. She gasped in surprise though her bruised ribs let themselves be known at the intake of air. Towering above her was one of the sumo wrestler types, with a struggling, spitting Yamane squeezed in his great arms. The look of anger on the previously placid, though large face, took Mia by surprise. She hadn't seen any of the soldiers truly mad, except for Yamane. To think, this giant was angry on her behalf was staggering.

After her moment of shock, the anger of the situation dawned in Mia's mind. This coward had charged her from behind, AFTER the fight was already over. With a predatory growl, Mia sprang to her feet and advanced on the pinned Yamane with the intention to do some serious damage. Up until now it had just been for fun and show. Now it was personal.

Mia allowed all the anger from the last month to swell up inside her and fuel her indignation at the sneak attack. She should have expected it since this woman-hater was bound to be shamed by her beating him. Not to mention, his first attack had been a sneak attach also, trying to catch her off balance.

She was before the giant that was holding her prey before she realized it. Quicker than anyone could blink, she lashed out with all her might and fury and punched the sleezeball right in the jaw. The force of the punch snapped his head so hard to the left that it yanked him out of the grip of the giant and he tumbled to the ground again. Only this time, she was not content to let the fight end there. She had every intention of pounding on him until either his face was bloody, or her hands were. She had been trained to only hit the face as a last resort, since it was so bony that it was hard on the hands, but it was satisfying to see blood and spit fly from his busted mouth. Maybe, he would have a new scar to go along with his old one.

Just before she tore into the downed man, a loud, commanding voice rang through the shocked silence from behind her. "Hold!" It wasn't much, but it was enough to startle her out of her retaliation. She stopped and tried to gather her calm and let the anger bleed out of her. Slowly, she turned to look at the Lieutenant and Chichiri who had raced up to the area after seeing Yamane tackle her to the ground. Whereas Chichiri's face held an emotion somewhere between shock and worry, Kanai's face glowed with respect.

Kanai addressed Mia directly, "I don't think you need to beat him any further. I'm sure he got the message. And you defiantly earned that bath tonight." There was a pause of silence before the soldiers broke out in laughter that the fight had been to earn a bath. Of all things! They had never heard of such before.

As Mia looked around at the laughing men, some of whom were doubled over with their humor, she saw respect reflected in several of their shining eyes. As she calmed, she turned to the giant and bowed in gratitude towards him. "Thank you for your assistance. I am Mia. May I know your name?" The giant was startled at her gratitude and bowing and stuttered, "My lady, you need not bow to me. I am Deguchi and it was my honor and pleasure to aid you, Lady Mia." Mia looked up into his round, gentle face and corrected him, "No, it's just Mia." Finally, since all the anger had bled away, she gave Deguchi a huge smile and turned to walk back towards Chichiri.

Behind her, she could hear Yamane grumbling and complaining about loose teeth and a sore jaw. She stopped and pivoted back towards him. Everyone got quiet, waiting to see what this small woman was going to do next to the idiot still on the ground. She walked over to stand before the leery Yamane and pointed a finger at him. In her best, chilly voice she announced, "By the way. The name's Mia, not PRINCESS! Try to remember that!" Then she walked away amid laughter and happy banter of the surrounding soldiers.

It had been a hard ride after the sparring had ended and lunch consumed. Her aching muscles and newly acquired bruises from being used as a tackling dummy did not enjoy the jostling of the galloping horse. But she endured quietly, knowing that at the end of this day, she could indulge in a nice, hot, soothing bath.

It was funny to hear the soldiers that had witnessed her battle telling the story to those that had not. The ones who had been in the other sparring rings lamented missing such an event. Yamane rode far, far in advance of the forward guard so that he couldn't hear the snickers at his expense. Mia had smiled every time she caught a glimpse of his slumped back.

She had no idea to what lengths the Lieutenant would go to ensure the reward he had promised. As it was, she was sitting in the bathhouse of a local farmer whose farm bordered the clearing that the column had camped in for the night. She didn't know if money was exchanged or what, but the farmer and his little wife had gone out so no one was around to see her use the bath. Deguchi had happily volunteered to build the fire under the tub as well as act as her guard while she soaked.

So, here she sat, neck deep in the first bath that she could remember taking in… she was embarrassed to admit it… but weeks! Her mind tried to take her back to the tragic events before she returned to Konan to figure out how long she had sat like a zombie in her vigil by her loved ones, but she stopped it before her mind started down that path. It would lead to nothing but pain and sorrow.

Right now, she was simply feeling and enjoying. She had earned this luxury, along with the dawning respect of several of the soldiers in this squad. It felt wonderful to allow the heat to ease the tenseness out of her muscles and wash away the aches in her ribs and her rump. That ground had been HARD! Was it possible that they had harder ground here than in her world? The thought made her laugh to herself as a bubble of pure joy welled up inside her.

Later, as she stretched out to sleep on her pallet beside the fire, with Chichiri on one side and Kanai on the other, she noticed something different. Beyond these two, she had noticed that the next ring of soldiers surrounding her were the ones from the sparring ring, minus Yamane. Deguchi was highly visible just on the other side of Chichiri. She smiled to herself as she realized that she had made some new friends. As she stretched out her hand to trace the constellations that represented her old friends she murmured to herself, "This has been a good day."

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

AN – Thank you to all the readers who reviewed my last chapter. The reviews really did make me smile. I wrote this chapter out of rotation with my others as a reward. Besides, I loved the idea of Mia kicking some arrogant butt!

This chapter was written after a nightmare of being chased by Aliens, Sigourne Weaver style. Hope it's not too OCC. When she's really angry, I picture her like she was when she was fighting Nakago and calling down the power of Sukaku in Tokyo.

Please review, it makes me smile… it really does!


	7. Chapter 7 Pushed

Chapter 7

The ride through Hokkan was cold and uneventful. Meadows of sheep sprang up and dotted the landscape. Frozen forests separated the villages that became farther and farther apart. The little huts were the domed tents that the sheep herders favored and baths were few and far between. Mountains loomed over the landscape at every turn. At times, the trees looked like a Courier and Ives calendar, and at other times, they looked like evil, gnarled hands reaching for them. A general feeling of cold and death seemed to build the farther into Hokkan they traveled.

Mia checked her notes on the yellow legal paper that she had tucked into her fanny pack. They had been traveling for three days now. Her younger self should have already found Tasuki and the Mt Rakaku bandits. In truth, the band should be headed to Choka to find the healer that can raise the dead. She shuddered thinking about the plague and the zombies. Just the memory of the pain was almost enough to cause her to abandon her current course of action and attempt to save her younger self from that fate. But, she knew that they would find Mitzkake and he would save the day. Still, those were some of her worst memories of the trip.

Chichiri leaned over in his saddle and again tried to glance at her notes. This time, it didn't make her angry. She almost laughed at the thought of anyone trying to read her handwriting. After so many years in school, furiously taking notes as fast as her professors could speak, she had developed her own version of shorthand. Consequently, only she could read her notes before they were typed into her laptop.

Chichiri finally asked, "So, Mia, where exactly in Hokkan are we headed? I understand we need to keep it secret, you know. But still, how are we supposed to find the best path there if we don't know where we are going, you know?"

Lieutenant Kanai was also curious, so he added his opinion. "There may be some mountain passes that are closed at this time of year in the farther northern elevations. We wouldn't want to waste time by backtracking. If we know where we are going, then we can choose different passes that are open."

Mia looked at the mountains looming in the distance. They were a beautiful purple haze towering over the trees. Most of them were beautiful. The one that was their destination almost seemed to have a black aura around it. She would never forget the name and appearance of that one fateful mountain where she had been forced to bury a good friend. A lump formed in her throat, and tears stung the back of her eyes. She finally whispered, "We're going to the central region of Touran. North of the city to Mt Koko."

Lieutenant Kanai stood up in his stirrups and called back to his Assistant Suitani, "Bring up the map of the region." A moment later, the Assistant Lieutenant handed the bigger man a rolled scroll. Without even shifting in his saddle, the Lieutenant scanned the map and located their position. With a careful eye to towns and likely ambush locations, he mapped out the quickest, safest route for them to travel. With a careful nod, he rolled the scroll back up and handed it back. He turned to Chichiri and Mia and commented, "Well, it doesn't look like we'll have to worry about closed mountain passes, but the journey will take us through some desolate territories with very little cover. We'll be exposed to the elements for most of the journey. Not to mention exposed for enemy attack."

Mia simply stared straight ahead and spurred Tank on to pick up speed. Chichiri frowned at Mia, and then turned to look at Kanai who was also frowning at her lack of response. Chichiri simply shrugged his shoulders. So far, she had been quite vocal in her complaints about the cold. For her to not comment on the future trip in the snowy mountains was worrisome.

In Mia's mind, something had clicked off. She could see herself moving, and could think about what she was doing, but it was like she no longer had control. Her body moved automatically as she focused on the cursed mountain and the evil feeling that was beginning to build at her back. If she looked back, she was sure she would see some looming black evil entity watching them. Everything else faded out except the mountain and that feeling. Not even the bone chilling cold entered into her tunnel vision.

Throughout the day, Chichiri noticed that Mia would occasionally spur on the big horse to travel just a bit faster. The other soldiers had also noticed her sense of urgency and were traveling a bit tenser than they usually did. There was little friendly banter. Eventually, the front guard even caught up with the elusive Yamane who had taken to riding well out in front of the column. In fact, Yamane's face had been quite humorous as he turned to realize that the column was riding on his very heels. But Mia didn't notice.

Still, despite Chichiri's best attempts to distract her, Mia rode on with a face hardened by determination. He watched her every move, and noticed the wince that she could not keep from her face as she experienced the pain of changing her past. Something must have happened here before that she was altering. Or something that had not happened, was now occurring.

The trail wound uphill all day. The small mountain range seemed to never end as she spurred the group onward towards the pass that would put them safely on the other side. Tank never balked at her urgings, he simply accepted her need for speed and complied.

By lunch, they had been maintaining the fastest gallop their horses could produce for several hours. Kanai had joined in with Chichiri's efforts to get some reason from Mia as to the haste she demanded. Still, the strange woman was silent in her determination. She neither looked left nor right when they were addressing her. She also did not seem to notice her surroundings, even when a low hanging branch would lash her across the face or drop snow on her. Both men were sure that if the column did not keep up, this woman would probably ride off without them into danger.

Finally, at mid afternoon, Lieutenant Kanai called a halt to their mad dash through the frozen wasteland of Hokkan. The two massive horses that were carrying the big men, Deguchi, and Ishiyama, were totally exhausted, and foaming at the mouth from exertion. All the mounts needed rest and water which they found in abundance after clearing the mountain range on the downward slope of the pass.

Still, Mia seemed not to notice this development either. She almost rode off and left them behind. Except that Tashima, the old man that looked like Chewbaka who rode in the front guard, galloped up to her as she passed him, and snatched the reins away from her. The loss of control of Tank did little to awaken her to her surroundings. As the great horse slowed to a walk, she slumped forward and slid bonelessly to the ground with a loud thump.

Her friends in the front guard rushed to her side to check on her. They found her laying on the ground with her eyes wide open and staring up at nothing. At first they thought she was dead, but her breath huffed out of her nose in a great gray cloud in the cold air.

Chichiri was at her side in seconds, calling her name. He removed his gloves and placed a hand to her face to pat her lightly to get her attention. It was then that he noticed she was suffering from a high fever. He twirled on Kanai and called out, "Mia has a high fever. We need to make a fire and get her warm."

Soldiers scrambled left and right to create their camp. This time, they erected a tent to house everyone and retain any warmth the fire in the center could give off. Chichiri lifted Mia off the frozen ground and sat her in his lap and huddled her body close to his to share his body heat. Deguchi, the large man who had helped her with Yamane, draped a large cloak over the both of them and set out to gather firewood.

Eguchi, the company's healer, scurried over to the two with his box of herbs and medicines. He took one look at her glazed eyes and pink, wind burned face and ordered Chichiri, "Remove her gloves and boots. We need to warm her quickly, so you rub her hands, while I rub her feet. If nothing else, place them inside your tunic against your chest. That is the warmest part of your body right now. Once we have her warmed up, I'll give her something for her fever." The older healer began removing the poorly fitted army boots from her feet and stripped the four layers of her own socks that adorned her feet in an attempt to keep her feet warm. The two men started rubbing her pale skin furiously to return circulation and warmth to her extremities.

Kanai even threw himself into setting up the tent. With all the men working at a furious pace, it was only moments later that they had a shelter up for Mia. Chichiri and the healer didn't even have to move as they set up right around them. Simply having the wind knocked off of them went a long way to warming up the trio. When Deguchi created the fire pit and ignited the fire, it felt like summertime under the canvas.

The archers, Uno and Furutani, even brought back some wild fowl for the cook to use to create a warming broth that would later be used as stock for dinner.

Chichiri still felt fear racing through him as he watched Mia's unresponsive eyes. Her pallet had been laid out in its traditional position by the fire, so the healer had suggested resting her there to further warm her. The healer mixed together a noxious combination of herbs that he assured would lower her fever and help her recover. It took quite an effort to get any of it down her throat without her cooperation, but finally it was all gone.

And still, she did not show signs of improving. Chichiri finally resorted to scanning the area for any supernatural forces. He closed his eyes, raised his hand and began a chant. There! He sensed an evil, green aura surrounding Mia that seemed to trail off to the south. It was the same tainted aura that he had felt emanating from Nakago! Somehow, the enemy had found them!

Chichiri quickly said a reversal chant and dispelled the aura that was effecting the woman. With a quick move, he placed a sutra on her chest to prevent any further interference from any outside source and infused it with a fraction of his own power. The paper glowed a celestial red before is settled down.

A low groan came from Mia as her eyes finally blinked and tried to focus on her surroundings. She tilted her head to the left and saw the worried faces of Chichiri, Kanai, and the healer. Behind them was her large friend, Deguchi, watching over everyone. She smiled a weary smile and asked, "What happened? Why did we stop? For that matter, when did we stop? The last thing I remember is telling you about Mt Koko."

Chichiri smiled and rubbed his hand on his neck, "That was hours ago, and you had us galloping like the devil himself was after us, you know. It seems Nakago was influencing you. His aura was surrounding you, you know. And you wouldn't respond to anything. You kept riding faster and faster until you almost wore all the horses out, you know. You had us worried."

She looked thoughtful and commented, "Now that I think about it, I do remember sensing that something was wrong and we needed to get there quickly."

One of the men stepped forward with a steaming bowl of broth, and Mia shifted slightly, so she was leaning against Chichiri so she could sit up. She mentioned, "Man, I feel awful. What did he do to me?"

The healer quietly advised her, "When we finally stopped, you had a very high fever and you were unresponsive due to cold. You should probably rest for the remainder of the day and not push yourself so hard tomorrow."

Kanai frowned and said angrily, "Who is this Nakago, and what is his interest in our trip? I need to know everything about possible enemies we might meet on this journey, or I can't adequately protect you."

Chichiri supplied, in a quiet voice that was intended for the Lieutenant's ears only. "Nakago is the General of the Kutou army. He is also a Seiryu seven. A powerful warrior that can project his life force as a weapon or a shield."

Mia added, "He is also ruthless, and cares nothing for people. He has no friends, only pawns. And all he wants is total power." Her voice turned sad as she remembered the situation from her past. "He has control over my best friend Yui and has been feeding her lies to make her hate me. In truth, he started this war with Konan only to divert his ruler's forces so he could attack his own country's capital and kill the ruler. He wants control for himself. But that's not enough for him." Her voice faded as she gritted her teeth through another bout of pain. "Once he has control of Kutou, he decides he wants control of all the country. Then, he learns about my homeland, and decides he wants that too. It was hard, but we finally stopped him before he could fulfill his dreams."

Chichiri understood what she meant about her "homeland." She really meant that Nakago must somehow make it to her world and try to take over there. The thought of such an evil, twisted man gaining such power caused the good-hearted wizard to shiver. "So, it's safe to assume that Nakago is aware of our presence, you know. Otherwise, he would not be influencing you with his aura. Do you think he knows about our mission?"

Mia frowned and tapped a finger to her broth covered lip, "It's possible that someone leaked information to a spy along the way. I'm sorry, I haven't been very careful about hiding my identity. Is it possible that one of the soldiers in our column might work for Nakago? It wouldn't be the first time that a friend was actually an enemy."

Lieutenant Kanai scoffed, "I can personally vouch for each and every one of these men. Even Yamane is loyal and trustworthy. I would stake my life on it, and have in the past."

Chichiri looked straight at the man and asked the crucial question, "But are you willing to stake our lives and the future of our world on their trustworthiness?"

Without even hesitating, the Lieutenant barked out, "Yes."

Mia smiled, "Well, that is all there is to say. If you trust them, we trust them." She looked into her now empty bowl of broth and asked, "Um, do you guys have anything more substantial to eat?" A small round of snickers echoed in the tent as the cook took her bowl and heaped some of the stew he had prepared with the broth over a huge helping of rice. Her appetite was becoming almost legendary in the group. There was even talk about an eating contest between her and Deguchi, the large sumo-wrestler sized soldier. The bets were still about half and half.

The men took short shifts guarding the exterior of the tent due to the drop in the temperature outside. It seemed that a wicked winter storm was moving in. It turned out that it was a good thing that Mia had set such a fast pace for the day's travels, otherwise they would have been caught on the other side of this mountain peak, and possibly delayed for days.

As the storm closed in, the men pulled out games to entertain themselves. A cloth was set up to throw dice in one area. In another area, a game of some type of cards was going on amid intense shouting and hoots of laughter. Kanai, Chichiri, Suitani, the assistant commander, and Mia sat close to the fire pouring over the map of the area. Every ten minutes or so, Chichiri would scan the area for evil auras to ensure they were not being spied upon.

Mia flopped on her stomach so her face was being held up by her hands. She had pulled a granola bar out of her larger bag that she was using as a pillow on her pallet. She pointed to the town of Touran. "This is where we went to find information on the Genbu Shinzaho. In the middle of this square is a large obelisk telling the story in an ancient tongue. It seems that the Priestess of Genbu summoned Genbu 200 years ago. When she did, an item that she was wearing became the Shinzaho."

Mia traced the path that they took out of the city towards Mt Koko. "This is the path we took to Mt Koko. It was deep with snow and treacherous. I don't know exactly how long it took to travel since we were in a hurry to reach……" her voice trailed off as her eyes grew misty and gazed into the fire. She nibbled on the bar in thoughtful silence.

The memories of she and Nuriko sharing moments in Touran tugged at her heart. Then the awful scene of finding her beloved Nuriko dying in the snow. How could he have been so careless? How could he have thought that their mission was worth his life? It wasn't. He was just beginning to open up and live his life for himself. It wasn't fair. She remembered the anguish that engulfed her and threatened to steal all reason from her mind. How Tamahome had forced her out of her denial to say goodbye to their friend. Tamahome knew what she was feeling. He had buried his entire family before this journey. Still, the pain in her heart was as fresh as it was that day that she had been forced to walk away and leave her friend under a mound of snow, only marked by a stick.

The men just sat there for a moment, to see if she would return from her mental wanderings. When she didn't, Chichiri touched her shoulder and called, "Mia?"

She snapped back from the fire to look up at him, and self-consciously wiped at the tears that were building in her wide eyes. This was a different time. Nuriko was still alive. Tamahome's family was still alive. Hotohori, Mitzkake and Chiriko were all still alive and she meant to keep it that way this time! "Sorry. Sorry. Um. We should take…." She looked back down to the map and pointed to the far side of the mountain that was facing away from the city of Touran. "this path up the mountain. It's not as steep as the city side, and there was less snow. It must pile up on the other side and never make it over the mountain. We took this trail as we were leaving Mt Koko and heading for Sairou."

Mia turned to stare at Chichiri as she was pondering something. Finally she started, "Chichiri, I was thinking whether it would be beneficial to tell you everything I know about the Seiryu seven. It might help if you knew what to look for from their warriors. But, still, if I succeed, then you won't have to worry about them." She glanced back down at the map, "But it seems that Nakago knows about me, which is something that didn't happen in the past, and it's not something that I wrote into my rewrite of history. I'm not really sure what that means for us. I had assumed we would be able to travel undetected and undeterred."

Chichiri looked disappointed, "I'm sorry that I didn't feel Nakago's presence earlier. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that something like that might be wrong, you know."

Mia simply smiled at her warrior and absolved him of any responsibility, "No, Chichiri, it's not your fault. I had felt that something was wrong, something evil following us. I should have asked you about it. This mission is my responsibility. You can't watch for threats that I haven't warned you about. I guess I should tell you what I've seen from the Seiryu seven so we all know what to watch for."

Mia pulled out a blank piece of paper from her pack and began fleshing out what she knew about each member of their opposition. It was painful, but not as bad as she had experienced in the recent past when she had actually changed some aspect of her history. This seemed more of a slight shift in the past, rather than a complete alteration.

Most of the soldiers that were inside the tent were secretly listening as they kept up their pretense of amusing themselves. They all needed to know about their common enemy. She explained about the twins Amiboshi and Suboshi and their unique talents with the flute and weird bolo. She described Soi and her attacks with lightning and ability to call up storms. Then she described that evil wolf thing that took Nuriko's life and admitted that she feared he might be awaiting them at Mt. Koko. That was why she had wanted archers to accompany them. Even though he only seemed to have his strength and speed that had been enough to cause major damage.

Then there was Tomo, the evil illusionist that had trapped them in his schemes on more than one occasion. Finally, the evil magic using , child possessing Miboshi. There wasn't much she could tell them about this one except that he had taken her voice once, summoned demons, and possessed the bodies of others. She didn't want to specifically say who he had possessed, but it seemed to be enough information for Chichiri's purposes. If he knew they were up against a black magic user, he could prepare for such. They could also keep an eye on the members of their soldiers who possessed weak spiritual powers in case their enemy attempted to use them for an ambush.

After all four of them were informed of the capabilities of their enemies, they sat and pondered a moment on what this meant for their future. Chichiri made the comment, "I think this storm might be the work of the one you called Soi. If she has the ability to control weather, and Nakago knows where we are, he might have wanted to trap us on the other side of this mountain range until he could send some troops to intercept us."

Mia thought about this, and agreed it was quite likely. "True. If Nakago really does know then that would make sense. He was always a few steps ahead of us. He had everything planned out. Truthfully, if I didn't know better, I would think that he was the author of the book…" She thought about this a moment. Was it possible that a warrior had enough power to rewrite the story to their own specifications?

She continued, "Still, I'm not sure that he really knows what we are doing. It may be a residual presence from his tracking Miaka. He might have used Soi to slow us down until he could find out what we were and what we were after. Nothing had happened in this timeline for him to need to retrieve the Shinzaho yet."

The three men talked a bit more over logistics and contingency plans while Mia sat and pondered something that she had just thought. She finally asked Chichiri in a lull in the conversation, "Why didn't Nakago just summon Seiryu when Yui appeared? All he had to do was recall Amiboshi to Kutou when Yui agreed to be the Priestess of Seiryu. We still needed to gather our Suzaku warriors. They would have beaten us to the summoning without any of their deceits and traps." She stared back into the fire as the men thought about this.

Kanai suggested, "Maybe, summoning Seiryu was not his ultimate goal. From what you've said, he seems the type that would find enjoyment in deterring another's plans as much as accomplishing his own goals. Like a sick ruler toying with his subjects for his own amusement."

Chichiri offered his thoughts, "Also, if he had simply summoned Seiryu, he would have empowered his emperor that you said he hated and desired to overthrow. Considering his prowess as a tactician it is quite possible that he put all this into motion."

Mia thought about this and grew quite angry. He had planned to get Amiboshi killed to turn Suiboshi's hate against the Suzaku warriors. He had planned to use the vengeful twin to kill Tamahome's family, to ensure the Suzaku warriors would push on at all costs. He had planned the war that killed thousands of innocent people on both sides for his own purposes. She wouldn't be the least bit surprised if he had not himself been the one to order the attack on Yui that he supposedly saved her from. Mia rose from her spot on her pallet and shouted, "That sick, evil BASTARD!"

Needless to say that all the men in the tent were shocked to see this slip of a woman go off on such a tirade in such a small area. All laughter died after her exclamation. The very air in the tent crackled with the power pouring off her fuming body.

She stomped around the tent, careful to not kick or step on anyone. Not that her sock covered feet made much noise as she stomped them. Still, she slowly made her furious way to the secured tent flap that served as a door. Even the soldiers that were walking around the outside heard the commotion over the roaring storm that enshrouded them. One of the guards, cautiously untied the flap door and entered the tent in a flurry of swirling snow. He asked, "Is everything okay in here?"

Mia shouted, "No! It's not okay. That sick bastard planned everything! He planned all the pain and suffering that happened. He probably even got off on it!" She huffed past the stunned guard who almost dropped his pike as she passed. The red sparks were beginning to roll off her fingertips. She grabbed the flap door and flung it back before anyone could stop her and exited the tent.

Out in the swirling snow storm, she was so fueled by righteous indignation that she did not even feel the freezing winds trying to steal away her body heat. All she could see was the evil smirk on Nakago's face as she remembered all the horrific things he had done to her in the past. All the faces of the innocent people he had butchered in his personal pursuits of power. The faces of Tamahome's innocent brothers and sisters as they lay slaughtered in their own home. Hotohori's peaceful face as they hauled his mangled body off the battlefield.

Finally her eyes focused on the storm around her and she noticed the sickly black hue that indicated Soi's influence over the weather. She also could see as well as feel Nakago's evil green aura surrounding the area, and it just made her all that angrier. Her powers built as they had during her encounter with Taiitsukun until she could not contain the heated red glow any longer. She shrieked in a voice that overpowered the howling winds, "How dare you! How dare you play with people's lives! I don't care how much you were hurt as a kid, this is wrong! I won't play your games anymore Nakago! You're sick and evil and I WILL STOP YOU! I WON'T LOSE TO YOU…. **EVER**!"

With the last word, a tremendous blast of red celestial power exploded from her small body to scour the landscape around her. The blast powered through the region and continued on to the very borders of the country, not stopping until it reached the palace where Nakago sat watching the wheels he had set in motion. His smirk was wiped off his face as he was scorched with the largest burst of pure power he had ever experienced. In the fading blast, he could hear the woman's words echo around his head in a painful shout.

Soi was beside him in an instant, trying to help her lover rise from the smoking heap that he had become after the onslaught of power. It seemed that no other was affected by the red light other than Nakago. Rising to his feet with a displeased scowl on his face, Nakago brushed off the hands of the clingy woman and wondered aloud, "How odd. That felt like the little Priestess's power, but she is nowhere near that strong. And that sounded like the little Priestess's voice, but that is impossible. No one can use abilities against me." He turned towards Soi and announced, "We will need to increase our efforts to locate that pest before she gathers all the Suzaku warriors. And I need someone to track down the source of this new power. It's possible someone is helping the Priestess; possibly supplementing her power." He wondered who this new player was. Could it be the strange force that he had Soi tracking through Hokkan? He would have to wait and see. He was nothing if not a patient man. Slowly, his smirk regained its usual place on his deceptively handsome face.

As the blast of power radiated off into the distance, the soldiers inside the tent swarmed out like ants pouring out of a disturbed ant mound. Each was carrying their weapons in an attack stance, even though they were partially undressed. Only the two guards were fully clad in their battle armor.

There before them stood Mia with a glow of red enshrouding her small form. As they watched, she again called down the red lightning that had dispelled Taiitsukun's fury. Again the glow of red calmed the raging storm, and the howling winds died down to a gentle breeze that carried the light downy snow to settle on her head. Each man had felt the blast of power pass through them and it somehow erased all the weariness that had clung to them from their 3 days ride. They felt revitalized and fortified to take on anything. They had also heard every word of the impossibly loud shout that had echoed around in their very souls as Mia challenged the leader of their enemy. It wasn't just a sound, but they actually felt her pain, outrage and determination. How was it possible for all that emotion and power to be housed in such a small package?

As the red glow faded and the day returned to normal, the slight woman turned to face her traveling companions before the tent. She simply looked at them with a tired, worn expression. Apparently, all her anger had burned off with her display of power and left behind only the sorrow that had underlain the outburst. She slowly walked back towards them as they parted for her to pass until she stood before Chichiri and Kanai. Her voice was as soft as a downy feather when she announced, "He won't be able to regroup his power in this area for a few days. We should move as quickly as we can before he can mobilize forces."

No one spoke as she turned towards the tent flap and disappeared back inside. Several of the men were leery of returning to their relaxation, and remained outside to supplement the guard, and discuss what they had seen and heard.

Chichiri entered the tent behind his priestess to find that she had slumped down in a graceless heap on her pallet bed. He rushed to her side to determine if she were injured. He found her facedown on the blankets, sound asleep. With a gentle hand, he pulled one of the blankets out from under her and tried to arrange her tangled limbs into a more comfortable position. When he thought she could sleep better, and breath, since her face had been planted into the blankets, he covered her and sat next to her for the night.

A bare whisper of a voice reached his ears as she tried to talk. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lost my temper. But I won't let him take anyone precious to me again. Nakago and his evil plans took so many people away from me, people that I loved. I've lost everyone once before, and I won't let it happen again… no matter what it takes."

When silence engulfed the tent, he knew that she had fallen into a deep sleep. Chichiri looked around to notice only a few of the soldiers had returned to the interior of the tent. Most of them were the friends Mia had made during her sparring with Yamane. Strangely enough, even Yamane had entered the tent and wore a concerned look on his face. Is it possible she had somehow earned the respect of this prickly man?

Chichiri moved to where Kanai was leaning against one of the tent poles by the door flap. The older soldier commented, "Damn, you've got yourself one strong Priestess." Chichiri chuckled and nodded. "Is the younger version this strong?"

Chichiri shook his head. "No, the younger Miaka is innocent and pure, but still very childish and weak. I've no doubt that she could gain such power, since apparently she has.." with this he motioned towards the sleeping woman, "but it has not manifested itself in her even in a crisis. Although, she was quite the fighter, even in her younger form."

Kanai snorted at the image of what this woman would have been like at fifteen and commented, "Well, then, I guess it's better for us that we have the older Priestess on our side. She seems to attract quite a lot of trouble, and it's only been three days. I can't wait to see what the future will bring." A sly smile spread on the Lieutenant's face. "So, do you think, if I stayed up all night tonight, I might get to see Suzaku? He seems to come when she's distressed."

Chichiri laughed at the expectant look on the man's face and commented, "At this point, I wouldn't be surprised at anything that happens."

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Thank you to all my readers who were so gracious to review my little story. I hope this longer chapter makes up for some of the shorter ones posted earlier.

Please review, since it not only makes me smile, but gives me incentive to keep writing.


	8. Chapter 8 Snow and sorrow

Chapter 8

Ok, whoever said snow was a "winter wonderland" was damn delusional! It was a pain in the butt, and toes, and fingers, and ears and nose and… well, hell, it made everything hurt from the cold! Mia's day had not started off well, and she was still grumbling and grousing in her mind.

After an entire night of sleep, with no Suzaku sightings, she was still tired, and her stomach hurt. Now why her stomach should act up after so long, she couldn't fathom. All she knew was that breakfast had smelled wonderful, but the few bites she had eaten did not sit well with her. In fact, they felt like they were going to come back to haunt her.

For half a second, an old hope thrilled her mind as she thought, "pregnant?" But then the practical side took over the analysis. It wasn't possible. After Hikari was born, they had suffered through three miscarriages. The doctors had become worried when life threatening complications set in during the last pregnancy. Tamahome had insisted that he was happy with the size of their family, and he did not want to risk her life to try again. So it was decided that he would have a vasectomy to prevent any future chance of pregnancy. Still, the reminder of what could have been, and what had been hurt almost more than changing her own past.

So, her mind had soared with excitement for just a moment, to have reality crash down on her again the next. That and the stomach ache put her in a foul mood. All her friends gave her a wide berth and even deserted the tent so she could get dressed and gather her things.

Knowing that it was going to grow colder as they traveled further north, she pulled out all the warm clothes that she had in her duffle bag. By the time she was done stomping and dressing, she had 4 pairs of socks on; a pair of sweat pants under two pairs of regular pants under her army issue outfit; a silk camisole under two t-shirts, one long sleeve knit shirt, two turtlenecks and a sweater under her uniform. If her mood weren't so black she might have laughed at her size when she was ready to go. She looked a little bigger than her previous appearance of a 12 year old boy. Now she looked to be about 14.

But did it help keep her warm? Nooooo. Of course not! All it did was make mounting that giant of a horse even harder. Heck, she could barely bend her legs! Once she was up on Tank, and the column started moving, the icy wind ripped at her face and ears. She pulled the huge scarf like thing off her neck and tied it around the helmet and flaps to keep the flaps pulled tight against her neck. When she was done, only her eyes were visible under the heavy helmet.

As the morning drew on, and the snow stopped falling, Chichiri tried to cheer Mia. All she did was snap at him or remain silent. In his mind, Chichiri said a tiny prayer that maybe Suzaku truly would come visit them, because the beast god had calmed her the last time. If this kept up, the soldiers just might leave them behind.

A lunch stop was called after the pale sun had passed the zenith of the sky. Again, the men gave Mia a wide berth making their own assumptions as to the cause of her attitude. Most of the men were married, and had experience with temperamental wives. The older men had often counseled their younger, newly married comrades on how to handle their new bride's monthly upset. The key to survival was to not mention it and simply allow the woman to be upset. Many a manhood had been jeopardized when the groom made a reference to the underlying cause of that upset or tried to convince the woman that she really didn't need to be angry. One man even came back the next day with part of his earlobe missing. The poor fellow never admitted exactly how he came to be missing that piece of flesh, but several soldiers had their suspicions.

So, it was no surprise to find Mia sitting alone on the outskirts of the camp with a half eaten bowl of food in her hand. Chichiri bravely walked up to the sulking figure feeling like he was entering a cage with a hungry lion. Many of the soldiers gave him consoling looks. Still, she was his friend, and it was his job as her warrior to protect her, even if from something as intangible as a bad mood.

Mia had been plagued all morning by recurring memories of her joyous life, before the abrupt end. Truthfully, she had not mourned the deaths of her family. She had simply been moving on autopilot until she came up with this hair brained plot to change everything. Every happy memory seemed to call up an equally painful feeling of loss and devastation. How did people survive this? She had thought it had been awful to lose her warriors, but this was ten times worse.

She barely registered that Chichiri had settled next to her right on the brushed off rotten log that she was using as a bench. With a long sigh, she turned to look at her blue haired friend. He would understand, if anyone did. He had survived the loss of his fiancé and best friend, somehow.

Chichiri's voice was concerned, but still cheerful, "How are you doing? I wish you would tell me what is bothering you. It's not healthy to keep it all bottled up inside." He removed his perky mask and looked at her in earnest with his good eye.

She placed the bowl down on the side of the log and swiveled to face him. It registered that he wasn't saying "you know" after every phrase which indicated his seriousness. With her gloveless right hand, she reached out and gently traced the wicked silver scar that ran from his eyebrow down over his eye, cheek and nose. In a whispered voice she asked, "How do you get through this?" She knew it was an invasion of his personal space, but touching the physical manifestation of his loss made her feel more connected.

She slid her hand back into her own lap, and stared at the ground in front of her. "I know I've been awful today. I'm sorry. I should apologize to everyone. You've all been so kind." She sighed again. "It's just that it really hit me this morning. My Tama and my daughter are gone, dead." Her voice hitched only for a moment. "Even if I met the Tamahome from this time, he's not the same. He won't have the memories of our adventures. He won't know of our trials to get together in my world. He won't remember how we met, fell in love, and struggled through high school and college. This Tamahome didn't work three jobs to make ends meet and save money for our wedding. There are no memories in him of being Taka before his memories were restored. He wasn't there during all the moments in Hikari's birth and life. That was _my_ Tama. And he's gone." Chichiri simply listened in his best monk's pose so he could help her get out these painful emotions.

She looked up at the dark Mt Koko looming ever larger in the imposing mountain range and continued. "And it doesn't help that we are approaching the site of my first experience of losing a friend. I never wanted to look at that evil mountain again. I lost so much that day, even if we gained the Shinzaho. It was like someone had pulled out my insides and replaced me with someone else. Like all my joy had been burned away. I was never really the same, carefree child after that day."

She finally looked back up in her friend's somber face and recognized compassion and empathy, "No matter how I try to rationalize it, it doesn't help. I can tell myself that there was some deeper meaning behind all this. That they aren't really dead. That I'll be reunited with them. But nothing makes the pain go away. I thought if I could be angry that it would lessen the sadness, but it didn't. It just made me feel like an idiot."

Tears that should have flowed weeks ago, maybe even a month ago, began flooding down her pink, wind chapped cheeks. "I feel like I'm being punished for something. Is it something I did, or should have done when I was pulled into the book back then? Am I being punished because we found a way to be together? What did I do? How can I fix this so they'll still live and be happy?" Her voice cracked completely this time, "I miss them so much." And she buried her face in her gloved hands and hunched over into a little ball as she cried. "Their memories have haunted me all day. I can't keep my mind from thinking about them. Why? Why can't I not think about it?"

Chichiri let her cry a bit more before he slid his arm around her shoulders and offered her whatever comfort she needed from him. He truly did know how she felt. He had carried his own burden of guilt for surviving his fiancé and friend. How many nights had he wondered what he could have done differently. In the end, it didn't matter, it just was. "It's okay to be sad. It's natural. I know it feels like it will never pass, but the pain does lessen, a bit, over time."

She turned into him a bit and he wrapped his other arm around her also. "You need to remember and to feel the pain. It's what reminds you that they existed, that they were real and loved. If you don't remember, then who will? As long as someone remembers, then they aren't truly gone."

He looked up into the county side surrounding them. "You didn't do anything wrong except putting off your grief. You need to talk about them, celebrate the lives you had together. Cherish the wonderful times that you shared." He felt her sobs cease as she thought about this.

She wondered aloud, "How did you get so wise?" He looked down and couldn't see her face to know if she were teasing him or not. He simply responded, "Surviving life's hardships. It either destroys you or you gain some wisdom on how the world works."

Her voice was small and muffled, "Would you want to hear about them? You wouldn't think I was a weak minded female for talking non-stop about my precious child and wonderful husband?" She had heard her brother and friends complain about women who had children. It seemed that otherwise intelligent, interesting women lost the ability to speak about any subject other than their "amazing" kids. It always seemed to her that the men just didn't care to hear about the little incredible milestones that marked the phenomenal growth of a child from a single cell of almost nothing, to an adult. How could one not be amazed at the transformation?

Chichiri laughed quietly, "No, I wouldn't think that about you. I actually love children and wanted my own someday. Besides, how could I think that a woman who stood up to Taiitsukun and Nakago was weak minded? I'd have to be an idiot to think that."

Mia sniffed a bit and raised her tear streaked face to look in wonder at her warrior. A timid smile graced her chapped lips as she thought about this. He added, "Also, from watching how you defeated Yamane, you would probably kick my butt if I were to even suggest such a thing."

This last comment received the reaction he was looking for. Mia laughed heartily at the image of her with the blue haired warrior in a choke hold. She bumped her shoulder into his chest in response and he gently returned the gesture. She wiped the tears off on the rough sleeve of her uniform and quietly asked, "Do you want to see a picture of Hikari?" When Chichiri nodded his ascent, she pulled the little fanny pack around to her front, and started fishing through it for her treasures.

The next hour was filled with Mia telling stories and showing the pictures of her wedding and family to anyone who wanted to see. Of course, this was always accompanied by an explanation of the technology that made such a picture possible. Truthfully, after the third explanation, she was thinking she should have just made a speech to everyone at once and gotten it over with.

Chichiri was enchanted by the loving glow that filled her face as she spoke of her beloved family. Not just Tamahome and Hikari, but of her brother, mother and friends. Here again was the brilliant loving face of the younger girl he had met just weeks ago. The joy in her voice attracted soldier after soldier until they were almost surrounded by the entire company. It seemed that the married men enjoyed basking in her maternal happiness that made them wish to be with their own spouses.

By the time Kanai grudgingly ordered camp struck, every soldier had a pretty good idea of where the little woman was from, and what she had suffered. There had been suspicions and rumors floating around the part of the group that had not been present at the palace gates when she arrived, but those were now put to rest. After the past few days, there was little doubt in their minds that this was an important quest. And there was little doubt that this woman was blessed by Suzaku.

The attitude of everyone in the column was greatly improved with the raising of the spirits of the woman, whom everyone now realized was indeed the Priestess of Suzaku returned to them. Since surviving several attacks, the men were even more diligent to scan the surrounding hillsides for ambushes. It was an honor to protect the Priestess and they would not let her down, or the Suzaku warrior that accompanied her. They had been commissioned with her protection by the Emperor himself.

The rest of the day was boring as far as external attacks went, but the men kept themselves and Mia amused with story telling. She even tossed in a few stories of her own that made the men snort in laughter. It seemed that they enjoyed hearing of her adventures with her sensei and the dojo's tournaments. Some good hearted ribbing even made Yamane snicker and accept that he had been beaten fair and square.

Halting for camp that night was nothing but routine, even though everyone was secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of Suzaku. Mia almost laughed out loud as these grown men more closely resembled a bunch of children trying to catch Santa Claus delivering presents. Dinner was delicious and companionable as Kanai and Suitani joined her and Chichiri as they ate outside the tent. They watched the sunset and told more stories.

Eventually, Kanai and Suitani left to attend their duties as leaders, leaving a mellow Mia and a quiet Chichiri. As the sun left the land around them, it still glowed lovingly on the mountain peaks before them. Mia shifted so her face was resting on her fists as she stared forlornly at the peak that was their destination. The snow reflected the dying sun with a vengeance that was painful to look at, all red and orange.

Mia broke the silence asking, "Chichiri, don't you need to check in at the palace again?" Though her eyes never moved from the mountain. Chichiri snickered under his breath and admitted, "Actually, no. I set the illusion to go into a two day prayer, followed by an illness that would have it bed-ridden for a few days. No one will bother it, you know."

She huffed out a sound of amusement as she imagined the ministers worrying about a three dimensional illusion while the real emperor was gallivanting about the country side. She was sure Hotohori was enjoying himself immensely. He was such a young man to be cooped up in a palace. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to see him and the others.

She sat back and looked at her friend with an expectant expression, "Um, Chichiri, is it possible to peak in on the others again without them knowing? I just really, want to see Hotohori and Nuriko right now." Her eyes again strayed to the mountain.

Chichiri looked at her and finally understood some things that had eluded him until that moment. All her comments and reactions lead up to only one conclusion. His voice was quiet and understanding as he asked, "Was Nuriko the one you lost up on Mt. Koko?"

A gasp escaped her as she spun back to look at him. Was she that transparent that he had figured it out? All she could do was sputter and stammer as she wondered if she should answer him. Finally she just nodded, "Uh huh."

Having been right on that matter, he continued on with another question to confirm his new found realizations, "And Emperor Hotohori is killed later on?"

Mia stared up again at that hated mountain as she tried to hold herself together. It hurt to tell him things that would change the past, but this pain was more emotional. By telling him, she had to address the fact that it was true in her past. She spoke with a stronger voice, "Yes, but it won't happen this time. Neither of them will die like they did before. I won't let them. I'll do whatever it takes to correct my mistakes from my first quest."

Chichiri could practically feel the undercurrents of lingering sadness flowing around with the determination and love she felt for all of them. He knew he would help her in whatever way he could. Right now, there was one way he could definitely help. So, he smiled in a conspiratorial way and pulled out his staff and hat from the folds of his cape. He said in a sly voice, "So, wanna spy on our friends?"

She grinned at his unexpected change of subject and jumped right in enthusiastically. "They won't be able to hear us? Right? I'd hate for them to think we were evil spirits haunting them if we should start laughing. But then again, that might be kind of funny too." Mia tried to remember what they were doing on day 4 of that part of the journey. Were they up with the bandits with Hotohori and Nuriko acting like women and getting the bandits drunk? Or had they already moved on and were encountering the Zombies and the plague? Had they found Mitsukake yet? Was he still a long-haired hippy hermit or had he straightened out and come to their rescue?

As darkness settled completely around them, Chichiri's hat began to shimmer and show the image of the other group. Mia leaned in closely and commented, "Darn. I really wish I had some popcorn and Coke™ right now. This will be better than any movie!"

She was disappointed that the group had moved away from the bandits, as she REALLY wanted to see Hotohori acting like a woman and getting hit on by drunken bandits. So, instead of a comedy, they were watching a horror. She knew the zombies were coming soon, and it made the hair on the back of her neck stand up in anticipation. A little narration on what had occurred so far, and Chichiri was current on events and he also watched with excitement.

The scene showed the younger Miaka, Hotohori and Nuriko standing in the hut of a sick villager. Miaka was demanding that Miss Shoka accompany them to revive the leader of the bandits. Mia snickered at her younger self's lack of diplomacy. She had the poor healer pinned against the wall. She looked over to Chichiri and demanded, "Fast forward to the good parts!" He just looked at her and responded, "Huh?" But Mia didn't explain.

Not a few minutes later, the three being shown in the hat had mounted their horses and were riding off into the darkness. They looked so determined. The surroundings got progressively worse as the dark night revealed a spooky graveyard. Mia squealed, remembering what was about to happen. She put her hands in front of her face and peeked through her fingers, "I can't watch!" but she still did.

Hotohori was talking, and then the younger Miaka slumped over, succumbing to the beginning of the fever from the Shikonki disease. Suddenly, Nuriko screamed, her horse screamed, and zombie hands were reaching up and grasping the horse. The horse reared up and dumped Nuriko before it was dragged under the ground. Then, more zombie hands reached for Hotohori's horse that dumped the two and scampered off in terror.

Mia gasped and grabbed Chichiri's hand as if she were in a movie theater. It was strange to be detached from the happenings. It was like she was watching a movie, and not reliving the experience. Of course, she could remember every moment of pain from the fever, and she could vividly remember the horror of being separated from Nuriko and Hotohori as the undead corpses closed in on her.

Then, just when everything seemed hopeless, Genro appeared to burn away the grotesque ex-villagers. Chichiri exclaimed in relief beside her, and questioned who this new person was. The image in the hat slowly faded away to reveal only woven straw as the two slowly regained their composure.

Chichiri exclaimed, "Wow, that red headed bandit can throw fire? That would be a helpful talent to have on the quest, you know?"

Mia giggled, "Well, then it's good he's a Suzaku warrior, don't ya think? That's Tasuki. He's a sweet guy, but he can be a real hot-head. No pun intended." But still, she giggled at her own unintended joke.

Mia rose from her seat and stretched with a huge cat-like yawn. "Well, I guess it's time for bed. Though, I'm probably going to have nightmares about those zombies. I'm glad we are way up here where they can't reach us." She walked to the door flap and looked back over her shoulder, "Thanks for letting me see them, Chichiri. It really helped a lot to know they are still alive and safe. Though, I sometimes wish I could spare her from all the pain she's going through. But if I did, she wouldn't be who she is, or who I'll be, or…. whatever. It's too confusing to think about this late. Just…. thanks…. for everything today." And with that she was swallowed by the dark interior of the tent.

OooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Thank you to my loyal readers who were kind enough to grace me with a rewiew for my last chapter.

I'm so thankful to hear that readers enjoy my depiction of an older, wiser Miaka (Mia). I must say, it's been fun showing her vascilate between mature, determined heroine, and scarred, saddened survivor. I just love complex characters! Besides, in the show, though there was waaaaay too much "will she, won't she, will he, won't he", and she was usually childish and wimpy, there were still glimpses of a stronger character that could stand on her own. (now if they could just do something about that voice)

Please bear with me if my timeline is a bit off. I've gone back and forth over the original episodes and tried my best to determine how long they were with the bandits. Personally, I think there was more time spent wandering that is not accounted for. So, I'm having to use the minimum number of days that I can gauge from the show. I might have to stretch some of the in between days, or shorten some of the days that were not shown.

One thing that did bother me, in the show, they state that Mt Koko is 200 leagues north of the city. Well, a league is how far a horse can travel in an hour. I just can't imagine it taking 200 hour to get to the mountain. Nuriko galloped like a madman to get there. Then, when he was dying, the others made it there before he passed. It couldn't be that far, so I shortened the distance. (is it just me, or do others want to call Nuriko "she"?)

So, please review if you enjoyed my little foray into FY land.


	9. Chapter 9 Mountain High, Valley Low

Chapter 9 Mountain High, Valley Low

It was late at night again. Two guards walked alertly about the tent keeping an eye on the surrounding countryside and the sky. All the men were secretly hoping to catch a glimpse of their god Suzaku on their own shifts. It was exciting, it was daring, and it was definitely helping to keep the men alert.

There was no way to confirm the sighting, but two of the guards swore that during the darkest hours of the night they heard the call of a giant bird of prey, and saw red sparks drifting down from the heavens. Personally, Chichiri doubted the tale the next morning upon hearing the excitement. Surely, if Suzaku had descended from on high, he would have visited Mia in his corporeal form as he had before. Not being one to dampen morale, Chichiri kept his disbelief and snickering to himself. He did hear Mia mutter about how Suzaku kept popping in but she hadn't seen him yet. It didn't matter that his first, and only REAL visit, had been for her benefit.

The column set off at a fast pace as the sun rose and warmed the land to almost freezing. If they rode hard, they could reach the summit of Mt Koko before mid-afternoon. They all had the desire to get out of the cold and head back to their next destination. She hadn't told all of them that they would be braving the desert after this. It was almost cruel, but she knew in a week or more, they would be wishing to be back in the snow fields.

As Tank literally plowed his way through snow drifts that reached his chest, Mia gazed at the beautiful landscape. If she ignored the cold nipping at her extremities, it was almost pleasant. She wondered how she had managed not to freeze to death the first time she trekked this way when she was 15. Maybe it was her younger metabolism. Maybe she was just clueless. She felt guilty, leaving her younger self to be the target for the Kutou assassins. There really wasn't much she could do without totally derailing the timeline completely. She didn't want that. As much as she wished to change large parts of her journey, she couldn't do too much to interact with her former self. It was the very hardships that she encountered that made her into the woman she was today.

She looked at the men traveling with her now and wondered what would happen to them if she managed to change her past. Would they live on? Would they have a happy ending? Would they cease to exist? It was a strange feeling looking at someone and wondering if you had the power to change them. She wouldn't want that. She liked all these hearty men. They had proven themselves to be versatile and trust-worthy.

Mt Koko loomed ever larger as the distance between them and their destination dwindled. Part of her was happy to draw nearer, to complete this leg of her journey. But the other part of her wanted to never reach the place of sorrow. She knew it wasn't anything yet, as far as Nuriko was concerned, but still, the image of the grave in the snow haunted her.

She tried to redirect her mind towards her enemy. Nakago. How had he known about her enough to not only send a storm to hinder them, but to send out a tendril of his power to track her? Perhaps he was sending his power out after Miaka, and part of it sensed her as the same person? She snorted to herself, "I hope it confused the Hell out of him and made him doubt his own abilities." The arrogant general needed his ego deflated a few notches as far as she was concerned. In the very recesses of her mind, that she didn't even truly acknowledge, part of her hoped she would be forced to battle the sadist and she could fry him with Suzaku's loaned powers. "It would serve him right!"

By noon the column was at the foothills of Mt Koko. She glared up at the sparkling heights and tried to seek out the cave. She vividly remembered the ice serpents and ice arrows she encountered there the last time. It was rather ironic, or maybe it was poetic justice, that the Genbu Shinzaho was guarded in an ice palace by ice warriors. It made her wonder if Okuda Takiko, the Priestess of Genbu, was a frigid woman. Though, it wasn't nice, she laughed at her own humor.

At one point, Mia leaned over to Chichiri and whispered, "Hey, Chichiri, wouldn't it be quicker to just transport us to the top of the mountain?" The blue haired warrior looked shocked at her suggestion and replied in a slightly offended voice, "Well, yes, but I don't have enough power to transport everyone and the animals, you know. That would take a lot out of me. I could carry you and me, but then we would be left without any protection or provisions, you know?" Mia just looked slightly disgusted and huffed, "Well, I was just trying to think of a way to speed this up. It seems like we've been climbing the side of this stupid mountain for days!" Kanai leaned over and added his thoughts, "Sounds like you were just trying to find a way to get off you horse for a while." His eyes twinkled as he teased this woman who was pretending to be a new recruit.

By mid afternoon the band had reached the summit of the mountain. The advanced guard of five soldiers reached the cave entrance and moved to the far side of the area to create a zone of protection. She had already told them of the wolf-like monster that had attacked her friend at this location. They were all hoping to avoid a repeat of that day. The archers behind her party moved up to flank her with their bows already loaded and waiting in their left hands; ready to be drawn at a moments notice.

Mia approached the last bend with trepidation. Her heart was racing and the sweat of fear was pouring off her body, despite the cold. In her minds eye, she could see the grave as she rounded the last turn. Her breath caught in her throat and she fought to still the sob that threatened. Yet, when she blinked, the sight was gone. All that reached her eyes was a pristine field of untouched snow. There was no frozen blood, no mound of sorrow, no stick of remembrance.

Tank followed Kanai's warhorse into the middle of the group where the men were tensely dismounting and creating a temporary camp. Half the men were still stationed on the outskirts of the area, facing outward, scanning for any trouble. Feeling a bit numb and out of touch with reality, Mia slid gracelessly off her horse, and staggered to the spot where Nuriko had fallen.

With the last bit of energy she possessed, she sank to her knees and buried her shaking hands deep into the snow. The events of that far off day replayed in her head like a bad movie. She watched him fall as she ran towards him, calling his name. She listened to his last words as he stroked the tears on her face, calling her names. She heard the strangled gasp of Tamahome as their friend left them. Then she remembered the disbelief and anger that swelled within her until she ran away. Somewhere in the middle of her memories, she felt the cold of the present day seeping into her chest and freezing the organ that used to feel. She bowed her head and a few crystalline tears fell from her cheeks to melt a hole in the snow before freezing into diamonds.

Chichiri watched his friend with worry clearly etched on his face. She had handled everything as well as could be expected up until this point. But this was something different. Up until now, the past had been distant and abstract in her mind. He knew that by the way she spoke. She had been subconsciously distancing herself from the experience of her first quest when she was 15. She treated it like a story she read of someone else's adventures. But this was real. This was concrete. This was unavoidable, and no amount of denial was going to chase this horror away. She would either have to work through this, or she would be consumed by it.

He knelt in the snow beside her bowed body and watched as the soldiers about them stilled their movements and looked on. Each knew that this was the future grave sight of one of her warriors and good friends. They felt like they were intruding on a cemetery. It was evident in their eyes and stances.

Chichiri held up his hand and chanted a prayer for this friend whom he had only grown close to recently. He said a prayer to keep his friend Nuriko safe from any future harm. He even toyed with the idea of placing a talisman in this spot that would repel the strong cross-dressing warrior from even approaching this location. But, if Mia's mission was not successful, then the other Miaka would need to travel here to obtain this Shinzaho.

In a quiet, somber voice, Chichiri spoke to the heart of Mia's sorrow. "Mia, he's not here. He's still alive and traveling about loving life. Do not mourn for some tragedy that has not occurred. You are changing your history so it will not happen. And if things do not go exactly as you've planned, you have given his Emperor Hotohori and myself enough information that we can make corrections in your stead. Please, do not let this sorrow consume you. There is no body beneath the snow under your hands. There is only snow." He stopped to gauge her reaction and listen to the sorrowful wind whistle about the opening at the top of the mountain.

Mia opened her eyes and saw the truth in his words. She was mourning over a pile of snow. Her beautiful, beloved warrior was running around, fighting zombies, and dressing like a woman still. Mia imagined what the others were doing at this moment. Miaka was struggling with the sickness, and Hotohori, Nuriko and Tasuki were begging Mitsukake to come heal her. A slight smile warmed her down turned face as she imagined all the men bowing before the long-haired, hermit and begging for his aid.

Chichiri reached out and gently touched Mia on the shoulder as he added, "You know that Nuriko would not die for no reason. He's too contrary. And, if he were here now he would fuss at you for such a display of silliness. He'd yell at you to get up and get back to work."

Mia smiled even larger and released a breath she had been holding. Then she inhaled a huge gulp of icy cold air and sat up on her heels. She laughed and announced, "Well then, what are we waiting for? This isn't a funeral! Can't have a wake without a body. Right? Besides, we've got some dragon butt to kick. I'm sure not going to let that arrogant ass Nakago win this time around. And he's not going to lay a finger on any of my friends!"

With her determination bolstered by the lack of a grave under the snow, Mia accepted the hand up that the smiling Chichiri offered her. With a quick swipe to erase the tracks of the silly tears she had shed needlessly, she turned to Kanai. "Ok, Lieutenant. Now's the time we need Deguchi and Ishiyama. Think they can move that annoying boulder blocking our path?"

Kanai called the giant men over and they began assessing the impediment. While they were working on that, Suitani, the assistant commander, set the archers at either side of the cave entrance. Then he arranged the remaining men in a closer arch around the opening.

Mia was starting to get excited. This would be the first real test of her ability to change her past. The first time, it had been Nuriko's bracelets that had saved her by shattering the ice that encased her. Even though the guardians had said it was her own power as a priestess that had manifested. Well, this time, it would be all her. She didn't have Nuriko's gauntlets or his incredible strength.

Mia had planned on how this would go for the past few days. When the door was opened, she knew they would face the Genbu guardians. The spirits of Hikitsu and Tomite who had guarded the Shinzaho for 200 years. None of their conventional weapons would work against the ice spears, ice snakes or barriers. There was truly no point in even allowing any of the regular soldiers to accompany her. For that matter, there probably wasn't that much that Chichiri could even do for her in this battle. So, she decided to enter the cave alone.

She stepped up to the area where Kanai, Deguchi, Ishiyama and Chichiri were assessing the boulder. She scanned the huge rock and was amazed that Nuriko could have moved that small mountain even when he had been fatally injured. In a reverent manner, she walked up it, and stoked a hand across the rough surface. In the back of her mind she could still hear the echo of Nuriko's dying words. "Don't lose." And she would not.

Backing up a few feet, Mia knelt again in the snow. But this time, it was in prayer, not in sorrow. As the giant soldiers wedged themselves between the wall of the cave entrance and the boulder, she sent up a silent prayer for Suzaku's strength in their endeavors. As if in response, the two giant men groaned and pushed with all their might, and the stone rolled away down the hill. Pain swarmed up through her body as she again changed her past. She was almost getting to where she appreciated this excruciating pain. It represented her success in fighting against history. Though it still hurt like crap!

After swallowing down the gasp from the receding pain, Mia stood and faced her friends with determination. She knew they were not going to accept this part. "I have to go on alone for the next part." Complaints started from all corners of the camp. She faced Chichiri and explained, "I need to be tested by the Genbu Guardians to see if I'm worthy to wield the Genbu Shinzaho. None of you will be able to help, or defend me. You will only get hurt and be a distraction." She turned towards the massive doors and called over her shoulder, "But if I'm not out in thirty minutes, leave without me. You will then need to read that letter I gave you, and pass out the other letters that are in my bag." She took off her watch and handed it to Kanai as she passed him. "That's when this bigger piece of metal is pointing at this mark." She winked at the Lieutenant and continued towards the giant gray metal doors.

With a creak and a moan, the gates opened to expose the dark interior to the harsh light of day. Mia closed her eyes and tried to remember all the details from her other experience in this cave. She knew it would be dark. She knew it would be cold. She knew there would be bones scattered about on the floor.

How could there be human bones on the floor? The stone had been placed to guard the entrance. It looked like it had never been moved. Was it possible that others had gained admittance by moving the stone, and the guardians had replaced the stone after vanquishing the invaders? Not that it mattered. She did not intend to join the number of corpses scattered on the floor.

Still, she walked in and waited for the loud clang that signaled the blocking of her only exit. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she could hear the frantic poundings of the soldiers on the other side of the door. She smiled at their determination and loyalty. Even though she explained she had to go alone, they still were trying to extricate her from this mountain.

Before her, the long ice cave stretched seemingly forever. She picked out her path gingerly, to avoid the piles of bones that she clearly remembered. It was no time before she found herself well into the cave, near the area where the Genbu Guardians had appeared before. Knowing what was to come; she calmly sat herself down on the frozen ground and gathered her thoughts. "I will not lose. I will prove my worth. I will collect the Shinzaho, and I will save my world and my friends."

Suddenly, a volley of ice spears launched out of the darkness to surround her seated form. She didn't even so much as flinch, but she did open her eyes. Just a bit farther ahead of her, a green glow started to shine, and a deep, masculine voice echoed in the cavern, "You who seek the Shinzaho…"

But Mia interrupted in a loud irritated voice, "'Will find only misfortune.' Yea, yea, yea, 'We shall never surrender the Shinzaho.' Blah, blah, blah. I've heard it before. Let's just get on with this."

She rose gracefully from the painfully cold ground and glared at the two startled guardians. She continued, "You are Hikitsu and Tomite, the Guardians of the Priestess of Genbu's Shinzaho. Yea, I know you've been here for over 200 years and you abandoned your bodies so no physical attacks can hurt you."

She slowly approached the spirits. The warriors looked taken aback for a moment. The one with an eye patch lifted his hand in a praying pose which had previously indicated that he was going to create an ice snake or a barrier. She waved her hand dismissively in the air and demanded, "Oh, no point in showing me your ice snakes or ice arrows. I've seen it before. You're gonna tell me you…" Mia made her voice deep and mocking, "'show no mercy to thieves' then you're gonna test me. You want to know if I'm worthy of the Shinzaho. So, let's cease with the theatrics and threats and get to the test."

The spirits looked rather shocked and angered as Mia walked within five feet of them and folded herself on the ground in a meditation position. The archer with the strange hat turned to the eye-patch warrior and they conversed in whispers. This was definitely not how most of their invaders proceeded.

Mia sat with her eyes closed, composing herself. She remembered the biting ice that engulfed her before. The pain was excruciating at the time, but she had experienced worse since then. Child birth was worse. Breaking her arm in the dojo was worse. Changing her history was twenty times worse. She was confident she could survive a little ice. In her mind, she centered her thoughts on the memories of all those she had lost. She imagined them all in the same place, and surrounded them with the flowing red power of Suzaku. In her mind, she relived the moment in the in between world where Suzaku had weighed her heart and mission and allowed her to attempt this quest. She would not stop now. She was so close to being half way through with her plan to rescue her world and friends.

The Genbu warrior with the eye patch mentioned to his companion, "Such disrespect. And such spirit. She just might survive the test." Mia added as a side comment, "Oh, and I'm **not** getting naked. You perverts can just freeze me with my clothes **on** this time. Besides, this uniform doesn't do anything to keep out the cold."

The archer lifted his hand and told her to remain still. A sparkling green glow enveloped his hand and shown throughout the cave as a green energy ring formed around her waist and began constricting. Next a block of ice formed from her feet up. Since she was in a sitting position, the encasing took less time than before. In only moments, she was a frozen block of ice.

Mia could feel the sting of the cold and the crushing sensation of the energy ring encircling her. No matter the discomfort, her mind wandered off in a daze. Images of her happy life played against her eyelids as breathing became impossible. As the ice fully engulfed her, she realized she could no longer breathe. But for some reason, this didn't bother her. It was as if her spirit was already drifting away from her body. Was she already dead?

Moment after moment passed as the ghostly warriors watched nothing happen. They listened as the woman's heart beat pounded, then slowed to finally stop completely. Hikitsu, the one with the eye-patch sighed, "I guess she was just a plain girl after all." The other one, Tomite, almost laughed, "She wasn't even much of a challenge. I hoped we could play more with her before her demise." In truth, the two enjoyed torturing and killing these unworthy invaders. It was all they had to look forward to in their imprisonment here. Hikitsu smiled, "Now we can return to our rest until the next threat approaches."

The glow that had illuminated the cave dimmed and surrounded the two Genbu warriors as they turned and walked back towards the back of the cavern. Then they winked out of existence and the light died completely. Behind them, the complete darkness swallowed the form of Mia encased in a tomb of ice.

Outside of the entrance to the cave, Chichiri and the Lieutenant were frantically working to pry open the doors using magic and muscle. It had been too long since their friend had departed from their company. Chichiri's brow was covered in sweat from his efforts. It was one thing to break Nakago's barrier, it was another to combat the combined power of a Priestess and her warriors. Deguchi and Ishiyama had already broken one pike and seriously bent another by trying to pry the portal open with brute force.

Finally, with the combined effort, the huge metal doors opened with a loud protest. Ishiyama wedged his huge sumo-wrestler sized body into the door opening so the others could climb over him and into the waiting darkness. Once the Lieutenant, Chichiri, Deguchi and the five soldiers who made up the front guard were inside, Ishiyama moved and allowed the door to slam closed. Suitani and the rear guard had been chosen to remain outside to protect against any ambush.

Complete and utter darkness and silence met the group. The bone chilling cold stole their breaths and their momentum. Deguchi called out in his deep baritone, "Lady Mia? Can you hear us? Make some noise so we can locate you." But no sound was heard except the strange echoing of the deep, rumbling voice. Yamane swiftly struck a flint to the torch that Tashima, the furry-faced old man, was holding to create some source of light for the search. Yamane grumbled, "Leave it to the old man to think to bring a torch. And leave it to the '_princess_' to need rescuing." Behind them, the long legged Morishita tapped Yamane on the shoulder and reminded him, "Don't you remember? 'The name's Mia, not princess!'" Yamane couldn't help but smile at the reminder as he turned to help look for the strange woman.

Chichiri scanned around and admitted, "There was a great outpouring of celestial power coming from this cave, but it wasn't Suzaku's. It felt almost like Nakago's powers, but stronger. Now I'm sensing absolutely nothing. Not even Mia's life force." The men looked stricken at this news and fanned out to find the tiny woman who had made their past week interesting.

The search revealed a strange long cavern with what appeared to be columns of pure ice supporting the ceiling. To either side of the walkway were piles of human bones; most likely from previous pilgrims in search of the Shinzaho. Chichiri thought this rather odd since Mia had said that there was very little known about the existence and location of the Shinzaho, and even fewer who could read the ancient text.

The men fanned out in a pattern very similar to the one they traveled in on horseback. So, it was no wonder that Yamane was the first to locate the ice-encased form of Mia. He unconsciously let out a distressed sound that echoed in the cave like a shout. All the men converged on his position and gazed on in horror.

Chichiri knelt beside the block of ice and tried to assess Mia's condition through the ice. Her face was pale as death, and her lips were a deep blue to rival Chichiri's own hair. In disbelief, he called out to her repeatedly. His voice took on a tone of distress and grief as he began to realize that his friend was no longer breathing. "Mia! NO! You said this was no problem for you. You said you would not lose. You can't quit! You said you were going to change history and save your world and friends! What about Nuriko? What about Hotohori? What about Tamahome and Hikari? How can you quit now?"

Lieutenant Kanai and the round soldier Ohara withdrew their swords from their sheaths and began swinging with all their might, trying to chip away some of Mia's ice prison. Between sword swipes, Deguchi and Ishiyama used their gigantic fists to punch at the ice. Nothing happened. Not even the swords could chip away at the magical ice.

From further down the cave, a green glow appeared, but it did not distract the determined soldiers. The efforts to free Mia did not cease until green ice spears came flying down the cavern. All the men scattered to avoid being skewered. Chichiri hastily formed a barrier before Mia and himself. He continued to destroy the ice with his magic while the soldiers dodged and fought.

Mia found herself watching as the soldiers explored the cave, then found her body. It didn't feel like she was looking at herself. It was like looking at a stranger. She had experienced something similar once before, when she had floated between worlds. She had been transparent, and could see Yui in the library, reading the Universe of the Four Gods book. But Yui had been unable to hear her, or see her. "Am I just a spirit now, like the Genbu warriors? Or am I dead? It doesn't hurt anymore." She floated around and watched the soldiers trying to free her body. In her complacency, it didn't matter if they succeeded.

As she floated along the ceiling of the cavern, she heard the cries of Chichiri reminding her why she was doing this. Then the Genbu warriors attacked her friends. "Look out! Normal attacks won't work!" she tried to warn them, but only Chichiri's barrier saved them from being killed. "No one can hear me." She lamented. With a growing determination, she flew at the spiritual warriors at the other end of the cavern. "No one hurts my friends!" She cried as she rammed her spirit self directly into them, and they fell back.

Hikitsu, the eye-patch wearing warrior spirit, showed shock plainly written on his face. "What was that? Some new attack? How it this possible? We have not had physical bodies for over 200 years! How can something touch us?" His partner Tomite pulled himself up to his feet and drew an arrow to nock in his bow. "It matters not. We will eradicate these invaders like the vermin they are!" His eyes scanned the room frantically, trying to see what was going on.

Mia rounded on the ghost warriors again and reached to grasp the bow right out of Tomite's hands. With all her might, she threw the weapon as far towards her friends as she could, then launched into an attack onto their persons. Her kicks and punches connected with their forms and the two ghost warriors were driven back. A smirk formed on her lovely face as she realized these warriors couldn't see her either. "There's something said for being invisible."

Behind her, Chichiri and the soldiers were confused by what they were witnessing. Or rather, what they were not seeing. All they could see was the warriors writhing in pain, and convulsing as if they were being stuck.

Mia was in the middle of whaling on the spirit warriors when a glowing red mist pulled her back away from them. She found herself being dragged back towards her body. "Wait! Wait! I'm not done hurting those two for threatening my friends!" She struggled and twisted to try and escape what held her. She was shocked into stillness to see the glowing form of Suzaku staring at her. His head was cocked to the side in confusion, and his celestial robe was wound about her waist, holding her in place.

His deep, echoing voice resounded in her mind as he asked, "Priestess, why do you do this?" She was not exactly sure what "this" he was talking about, so she asked. Her voice was quiet and subdued, "What do you mean?" It struck her as odd that she was questioning a god.

His eyes still shone with confusion. "Why do you subject yourself to such punishment? Would it not be easier to accept your death and join me in the heavens?"

She stopped for a moment and pondered over the being before her. He was a celestial god. He only appeared when summoned. Did he not know of life and love and sacrifice? "I do these things because of love. Maybe it's selfish to want my friends, family and world to be revived, but that is what love does. Love cares, sacrifices, fights and struggles. I would give my life for my friends. These warriors of Suzaku that died to protect me and their nation should be rewarded. They deserve to experience love and have families and children and to grow old without strife. For that matter, all the past warriors deserve the same."

The beautiful, masculine face of Suzaku still reflected confusion. A frown creased Mia's forehead. She asked, "Have you never experienced love? Devotion? Sacrifice? Or have you always been so distant that you never saw the struggles of average people? Have you been so far away all this time, only to appear when summoned?"

Suzaku pulled her closer with the ribbons of his celestial robe and reached an elegant hand out to touch her face. She closed her eyes as the tingling fingers brushed along her cheek. A blinding white flash pained her eyes even through her eyelids and she felt drained all of a sudden. She slowly opened her eyes to notice a changed expression on the deity's regal face. His eyes shone with a sense of wonder and discovery. A small smile grew on his face and its radiance stole the strength from her body.

His hand moved again and skimmed down the sleeve of her left arm to reach for her left hand. He grasped her hand and raised it to be even with his eyes. There, he studied her engagement and wedding rings with understanding. All he said was, "Your memories show beings that I have never known that relied on my distant protection. You have feelings that I have never experienced. You survived situations I never realized existed. You seek to save a world that was always distant from my home. I see now why you are fighting with all your might."

A sad feeling overwhelmed her as she looked at this incredibly powerful being that had never experienced love, hate, hardship or joy. What a horrible existence. She reached out a hand of her own and returned the gesture of brushing the back of her knuckles down his flawless cheek. A large masculine hand grasped hers and his smile seemed to widen. "You must return to your quest. If you do not free your body soon, you will not be able to restore your world and realize your wish. I will be watching."

Pain doubled her over as images of the tragedies of her past flashed before her eyes. She squinted her eyelids as tight as possible to try and stop the images. In her mind she started screaming, "No! I won't lose them again. NO! I won't lose to a pair of ghosts! I won't lose to Nakago! I WON'T LOSE!"

A red glow began to envelope her unmoving frozen body within the ice sculpture. Chichiri and the soldiers jumped back startled at the visible evidence of Mia's unleashed power. They had seen it twice before already, and knew that being too close to the epicenter of her release of power would be hazardous.

The ground began to shake and toss like in an earthquake as power built in the frozen form before them. Chichiri was shocked at the amount of power that was rising from a seemingly dead woman. In the distance, even the untouchable warriors of Genbu were shaken, though not on a physical level.

Tomite's eyes were as large as saucers as he gasped, "What is this power? I have only felt something similar when the beast god Genbu was summoned!" Beside him, Hikitsu's one visible eye scanned the cavern for the source, "This is different. This is the pure flame of Suzaku!" Then, their three ghostly eyes turned to the figure of the woman that they had already dismissed as dead. Red lightning seemed to crackle from the ground up and a dome of red fire exploded from her body to engulf the area and beyond.

Cracks appeared in the ice columns supporting the ceiling. Chunks began to fall from the surrounding mountain as the supports weakened and crumbled. Without a seconds hesitation, Deguchi flung his massive frame against the pillar just to the left of Mia's still huddled form, while Ishiyama threw his considerable weight into holding up the pillar just to the right. Chichiri quickly gestured with his hands and created a giant barrier about them that kept most of the ceiling from caving in on them. At the head of the tunnel, Hikitsu and Tomite summoned their powers to shore up the sagging supports beyond the barrier.

The red glow dimmed as residual waves lapped at the walls like a ripple in a puddle. In the middle of the disturbance, Mia stood and looked around like a child just waking from a nap. She called out, "Whatcha doin guys?"

Chichiri exclaimed, "Mia! Are you alright? We thought you were a goner, you know." Yamane grumbled, "Show off." which earned him a whack on the back of the head by Kanai and quite a few promises of pain from the other soldiers.

Mia ignored all the concerned exclamations and turned to march over to the Genbu warriors. She cocked her head to the side and smirked, "Good enough for you? Or would you like me to do some more? I'm sure I could collapse your little cave if that is what it takes to make you happy. Course that would just slow down my quest. I mean, having to dig your butts out of the snow, and then find the Shinzaho in the rubble…."

Hikitsu smiled and explained, "That will not be necessary. Please accept our apologies, Priestess of Suzaku. We will gladly lead you to the Shinzaho." With that, both warriors smiled and turned to lead the band towards even larger doors at the far end of the cavern.

Mia walked beside the two and wondered, "What will you do now that your 200 years of protection have come to an end? Will you simply return to heaven? Tell me something. If you had the chance to be reincarnated into the world of your beloved Priestess of Genbu after you were finished with your purpose in this world, would you accept? To live with your loved ones and protect her world?"

The warrior spirits looked at each other. Hikitsu smiled, "After 200 years of serving her faithfully, it would be nice to see her again." The smile crinkled his eyes even under the eye patch. Tomite looked off into the distance and chuckled, "I would like to have had a family. A son to carry on my name." The procession ended before the pedestal that housed the glorious necklace of gold, amethyst and pearl. Hikitsu explained, "This was given to the Priestess of Genbu during the ceremony to summon Genbu. It houses her power to summon the beast gods."

Mia reverently lifted the sparkling necklace off the regal pillow it had rested on for centuries, and immediately placed it in a pocket on one of the multiple shirts she wore under her uniform. There was no way anyone was going to get it out of her possession this time without killing her and stripping her body! She spun on her heel and walked back towards her friends waiting at the inner doors. Behind her Tomite started to explain where the next Shinzaho was located. But Mia interrupted him. "It's alright. I know the Byakko Shinzaho is in Sairou being guarded by a warrior named Tatara."

Hikitsu gaped at her, "Are you a seer? Someone with prescience? How can you know so much that is unknown by the average person?" Tomite leaned over and looked at her, waiting for a response to the question he had obviously wondered about too.

Mia laughed, a deep, rolling laugh that echoed in the cavern and surrounded everyone with mirth. "No, I'm not a seer of the future. It's hard to explain. Maybe, if I succeed on my quest, I'll be able to tell you when we meet in my world. Until then, I hope you enjoy the peace you have so richly deserved." And she leaned over and kissed each one on the cheek, which they could actually feel. Their eyes grew wide with shock and wonder since they had not felt a physical touch in centuries.

Chichiri watched from the inner doors and gestured for the woman to hurry up. His strength was being taxed by maintaining the barrier that kept them from being crushed. With a sprint across the tunnel, Mia joined them and kept running towards the main portal. She called over her shoulder, "Come on! What are you waiting for? Now we need to head for the desert!" Eight masculine groans trailed after her as she burst through the massive doors into the glaring sunlight of late afternoon.

The detail that had been left behind to guard their exit was shocked to see her run out with a huge smile plastered on her face like a lunatic. Soon, the others that had 'rescued' her from the cavern were exiting, and the ceiling collapsed down onto the now empty cave. Mia was bouncing next to Tank as one of the pike-carrying soldiers, Arata, was hefting her saddle up onto the patient warhorse. "Come on! Hurry up! Come on! I've had enough of snow! I can't wait to get to the desert where I can thaw my poor bones!"

Chichiri laughed at her exuberance and wondered aloud, "From the display we saw in there, it seems ice does not affect you, you know. Um, is there anything we should expect in the desert? Like, I don't know, fire breathing dragons or anything? At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if the desert turned to an ocean, you know. Strange things seem to happen around you."

Mia just smiled over her shoulder and quipped, "That's just part of the wonderfulness of me!"

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

Thank you for reviewing my last chapter. I'm glad I could touch your emotions. That means more to me than kind words, because that means I'm doing something right. Thank you so much.


	10. Chapter 10 Back Down the Mountain

Chapter 10 Back Down the Mountain

Mia rode with a zeal for life and everything warm. The promise of scorching deserts lay before them, and she couldn't wait! She was almost singing out loud like a little kid. The only thing stopping her was the image of her new friends stopping to rest thinking that she had gone insane and needed tending. It did make her giggle out loud. For that matter, just the bouncing on Tank in the process of a wide open gallop down the snowy mountain had her laughing like a loon.

Heat, sand, sun, warmth…. She just couldn't wait to be sweating and stripping out of her 4 layers of clothes. Not that her silk camisole didn't feel good, but the cold still found its way in, and she had decided she was a summer type woman.

It had been late in the afternoon when they left the summit, and she was determined that they would at least make it back to the clearing where they camped the night before. Weariness began to drag on her every body part, and even her mind, but she didn't care. Maybe that was why she was feeling so giddy over a successful mission. So far, no bad guys had leaped out of the scenery to murder, maim and steal, so this was a good sign. Maybe, they had slipped in and out before Nakago could get a true read on them. She checked the pocket under her uniform that hid the Shinzaho for the millionth time. It wasn't going anywhere.

All around her, the soldiers and Chichiri were kept an anxious eye on the foliage. It would be too easy to take the priestess unawares in her current happy mood. Chichiri felt a bit uneasy at her exuberance. It was almost unnatural. So, with that in mind, he carefully centered himself on the back of his charging war horse, and closed his eyes. With a bit of preparatory meditation, he calmed his senses so he could reach out with his magical abilities. Opening his eyes, he scanned all the members of the column and the lengthening dark for any hints of danger, enemies or foreign auras. Surprisingly enough, the only color he could detect was the lingering glow of red from the blast of Suzaku's powers that Mia had unleashed earlier. Mia trailed a glow of red behind her like a comet tail, and all the soldiers were tinted with the faintest hint of red.

These repetitive displays of power concerned Chichiri a bit. Surely, it was unheard of that any priestess could wield celestial powers without having summoned a beast god. And even once the summoning was complete; there was absolutely no mention of any priestess being able to continue using such power. This was stranger than anything he had learned in his years under Taiitsukun's mentoring. He wondered if the wizened old hag had experienced anything similar to this.

Another thing that worried him about Mia's power was the possibility of Nakago being able to detect it and track it from long distance. So far they had been fortunate to avoid further interference. But, it still seemed unlikely that the enemy general would simply allow them to move about freely even if he didn't know exactly what they were attempting. Nakago was too cunning not to be intrigued with this second contingent of Konan soldiers moving about the country side.

Mia watched in an exhausted haze as the sun set beyond the receding mountain range. Still, the column continued moving since they had not reached the previous night's campsite. She didn't know why it was so important to cover that much ground in a day, but time was of the essence, and as long as Tank didn't drop out from under her, she meant to keep up with the hardened soldiers around her.

Odd thoughts drifted through her mind as she listened to the encroaching night. The wind whistled through the surrounding forest like a wounded animal. Her thoughts turned to the horrors that her younger self was experiencing at this moment. She remembered the day spent in excruciating agony from the sickness that plagued the city. Her friends could do nothing but approach local doctors in hopes of finding her some relief, only to be turned down. How long had it been that she suffered before Miss Shoka had suggested that they kill her so that she could be revived? It had seemed like a wonderful solution at the time.

Now, all those years later, she felt shame that she could have asked her beloved Hotohori to kill her. She knew what it was like to love someone so intensely, and stand by helplessly while they suffered. It must have been so horrible for the young man to make such a drastic decision to end the life of the girl he professed to love completely. It turned out well in the end, but every now and then, she couldn't help wondering, what would have happened if Hotohori could have completed his task? She would be a zombie and they would never have met Mitsukake.

In the back of her exhausted mind, she tried to calculate how long it would take them to travel to Choko if she decided to lend a hand to the younger Miaka in her warrior gathering mission. Should she warn them of the assassins that were probably heading their way? Should she send Chichiri to their group with information since nothing much was happening up here in Hokkan?

But, deviating from the plan she had written into the Universe of the Four Gods could be disastrous. Not that everything was going the way she had outlined. The whole detection by Nakago was a complete surprise. Maybe she shouldn't have left the extra blood on each page for the story to write its own detours. All she could do was stick to the plan and hope that she somehow reached the same result as she had worked towards.

In the hours of endless riding down the mountain, part of her still wondered what it would be like to meet this younger self. For that matter, what would it be like to meet Tamahome? He would seem like a child, just like Hotohori did. Would the feelings still be there? Would they be different since this was a different person? On some level, she felt like her desire to run to this Tamahome was a betrayal of the love she had with her own Tamahome/Taka. A headache grew as she tried to ponder the vagaries of time travel, only to come to the conclusion that it was impossible to understand.

And there was the possibility of meeting this younger, vital Nuriko. Oh, how she had missed her strong, cross-dressing friend. It was so unfair, that just at the point where they were really becoming close friends, that he had been snatched away from her. She had unintentionally heard his confession to Tamahome in the bar, and had never had enough time to digest the fact that he loved her. How could Nuriko love her? He had always mocked her and pushed her away. Still, in the end, he had sacrificed his life so she could gather the Shinzaho and summon Suzaku. But, this Nuriko was not the one of her memories. This man was still at the beginning of his journey of self-discovery. He still loved the emperor, and thought Miaka was an annoyance. Mia laughed to herself as she remembered all the times Nuriko became jealous over the Emperor's affections for his young priestess, and Nuriko's schemes to unite her with Tamahome.

Just before all the light had bled away from the twilight sky, Kanai ordered the troops to veer off their current trail and head slightly west. Chichiri asked from her right, "I thought the idea was to retrace our trek back to the campsite, you know?"

Mia turned her head slightly to look through the puff of steam that she created with every exhale to see the silhouette of the big soldier turn towards them. He explained, "Ordinarily that would be a smart move since we are already familiar with the terrain. But since we have no intelligence on the position of our enemy, we wouldn't want to make it too easy for them to find us. If they were following our trail up towards Mt Koko, they could come upon us in the night and catch us unawares."

As the column headed off on this change of course, Lieutenant Kanai ordered the archers Uno and Furutani to stand guard while he had Arata and Eguchi, the pike carrier and the healer, disguise their tracks leading off the trail and into the woods. While Kanai was giving orders, the Assistant Commander Suitani admitted to Mia that, "Eguchi may primarily be our healer, but he is quite skilled in camouflage. He comes from a prestigious ninja family. And although he did not desire to kill, he still picked up many of their secrets."

Mia simply sat on Tank and watched the four men essentially disappear into the lengthening darkness. Oh how she wished they would allow her to strike a torch. Traveling in the darkness was not her idea of fun. It conjured up too many images from horror movies… bats, crazed killers with chainsaws, aliens, vampires, zombies, blobs…And then there were the terrors in this world. It seemed like everywhere she turned here, there were bandits and evil men wanting to become carnally acquainted with her body. Not to mention the assassins and evil minions of Nakago.

As the men finished their work, she could only tell where anyone was from the sounds of squeaking leather and whinnying horses. But in the dark, those noises seemed so distant. Since she could not see her own hands, she decided she would just have to trust Tank to follow the lead horses.

From somewhere to her left, she heard the Lieutenant comment, "We will be making camp soon. We just need to be far enough off from the trail that the smoke from our fire and the sounds of our camp don't carry to anyone that might be on the trail. We will circle around to the pass from the west and keep scouts on the trail to alert us to any approaching enemy."

Chichiri called to her from the right, "Mia, are you alright? It's been a rather long and eventful day, you know. And you haven't spoken much since we left the mountain. Can you make it to the campsite? You could always ride with me so you could sleep, you know."

Mia snickered in the darkness. "It's really sweet of you to offer Chichiri. But by the time I climbed off Tank and mounted your horse, we could already have been there and setting up. I think I'll just stick with Tank and let him follow the others."

Assistant Commander Suitani ordered Nishi, the beady eyed, rat like little man from the front guard, to the first shift of watching the trail. She was getting disoriented from hearing all the disembodied voices around her interspersed with sounds of shifting bodies, human and equine. From somewhere off to her right, a strange squeak caused a sudden increase in her adrenaline. She pulled back on the reins, and Tank came to a dutiful stop. She whispered, "Chichiri, did you hear that?"

It was amazing how quickly fifteen men and seventeen horses suddenly became still and silent. A warm hand appeared to her right and grasped her arm in a reassuring gesture. Instinctively, she knew it was Chichiri. So far, he was the only one who touched her in such a friendly gesture. Around her, she could just barely make out the dark shapes of her comrades as they dismounted and vanished into the shadows of the forest.

Minutes stretched into what seemed like hours before she heard a commotion off to the right again. A deep, quiet call reported that "One man subdued. Appears to be long range reconnaissance." Then all the men and horses were once again surging forward in the quietest gallop she had ever experienced.

Mia struggled with keeping her eyes open, even with the impending threat of ambush. The day's events were overtaking her and her eyes were getting twitchy, and rolling up into her head. It was a horrible feeling that she remembered all too well from her days as an undergraduate student at University and the late night feedings of Hikari as an enfant. Although Konan was beautiful and pristine, one major drawback was a lack of caffeine. Oh, what she wouldn't do for a large cup of coffee, or a Mt Dew™. Heck, she'd even go for one of those nasty tasting energy drinks if it would help perk her up.

So, it was no surprise when she felt her head snapping up from where it had fallen against her chest. She had often laughed at classmates who got to this stage as having lecture whiplash. Now that she was experiencing it firsthand it wasn't quite so funny. She wanted to call out and ask how much further, but since everyone was still remaining so silent, she figured there was still the threat of being overheard by the enemy. Suffering in silence in the almost complete dark, made it even worse.

Mia never felt it when her eyes closed against her will. She never felt it when her head slumped forward as exhaustion finally caught up with her. She never felt her body become completely relaxed and lower towards Tank's neck. She never felt as gravity and her body's inability to maintain its balance allowed her to slip noiselessly from the saddle. But she definitely felt it when her sleeping body impacted with the hard ground.

Tank must have felt her slipping, as he stopped moving forward and tried to side-step to get up under her shifting body in an effort to keep her in the saddle. But, she still fell, despite his best efforts. With his rider on the ground, and other horses approaching quickly from behind, the great gray warhorse side-stepped even further until he was actually standing over her body.

The men in the rear guard suddenly exclaimed as their mounts abruptly veered to the left and right to avoid running into the stationary gelding. One horse even reared since he had no where to go and could not stop his forward momentum in time to prevent riding up Tank's behind. It stood up on its back legs, and pivoted completely around until it was facing in the opposite direction. Needless to say, that it was only due to the superior horsemanship skills that none of the soldiers were unseated and on the ground like Mia.

The first thought on everyone's mind was "Ambush!" Weapons were drawn and senses went on heightened alert. Once again, everything became deathly silent as the men searched for the cause of the disturbance. From somewhere in the middle of the group, too far down to be from a mounted rider, a voice hissed a quiet, "Ow." Everyone recognized the voice instantly as the priestess they were guarding. Had someone attacked her? An arrow could easily pick off a single rider in the midst of a battalion.

Chichiri called in a stressed voice, "Mia, are you alright? Where are you?" Lieutenant Kanai added, "What happened? Did anyone see anything?"

A quiet, embarrassed voice echoed up from the ground in the middle of the group, "I seem to be on the ground. My head hurts. I think I fell asleep and fell off my horse." There was a shuffling sound and she added, "And Tank is standing over me." Another shuffling sound was heard and they heard a patting sound, "Good Tank. What a good horse, protecting your silly rider."

Kanai was still tense as he asked for confirmation, "Are you sure you simply fell asleep? You were not struck anywhere? There is no outside influence?" This last was obviously directed at Chichiri. A slight red glow peeked out from under some clothing as Chichiri scanned the area for any enemy auras or anomalies. The wizard reported, "No, there is nothing out of the ordinary in the surrounding woods. Just us."

The soldiers began to loosen up at the report that nothing evil was lurking about, other than the spy they had caught earlier. Kanai ordered, "Set up camp. We are far enough away from the original trail to avoid detection. Still, take precautions to keep the noise and light level down." Men dismounted and hustled about to erect the tent and gather kindling and wood for the indoor fire. It would have to stay small, but a little fire was better than nothing.

An embarrassed voice called out again from the ground in the darkness, "Could someone come and get me? I can't see a thing. My night vision has never been very good. Although I love Tank for helping me, I don't think it's such a good idea to stay under him like this. What if he wants to go?" Even though, in Mia's sleep addled mind she was thinking "go" in terms of "walking off" it was obvious from some of the snickers drifting around the group that the soldiers had taken it to mean "relieving his bladder" either of which could be dangerous or embarrassing.

Eguchi, the healer with ninja skills, was the one to come to her and assist her out from under the warhorse. It seemed that ninjas were bred to have excellent night vision and he could see as well as if there had been a full moon. 'Lucky stiff.' Mia thought to herself as she was led about like a blind woman which, technically, she was.

In no time she was ensconced within the warm, lit interior of the tent with a wall of soldiers between her and the spy that was being interrogated by Lieutenant Kanai and Assistant Commander Suitani. The spy was of course wearing nothing but black, and had a mask over the bottom half of his face. He looked identical to the spy that she had seen suspended from her ceiling in the Emperor's palace when Nakago had sent the ultimatum for Tamahome to turn himself over to Kutou in exchange for a cease to the hostilities to the outlying villages.

She had to peek around Deguchi's girth to see the proceedings. Beside her, Chichiri kept scanning for any telltale signs of more spies or communication. She whispered in a voice that only traveled to those directly around her, "I've seen him before. He works directly for Nakago. Be careful, he's fast and slippery." Chichiri pulled out a length of rope from the folds of his cape and chanted a binding prayer over it. Mia whispered to him, "Is that like Wonder Woman's golden lasso that will make him tell the truth?" Her blue haired friend looked strangely at her reference to a woman, but then grinned, "That's not a bad idea, you know."

Chichiri pulled out a sutra and wound it around the cord and added a second chant. Then he stepped up beside Kanai and handed the Lieutenant a length of rope. The wizard kept his back to the enemy as he whispered to the Lieutenant to use this as an added precaution to prevent any escape attempts and to compel the truth from the enemy.

Kanai had an eager, piercing look in his eyes as he ordered the man in black to be bound to the entrance pole with the enchanted rope. Immediately, the spy started gasping and struggling against the spell as if he were in pain. Chichiri quietly explained for Mia, "If he is a habitual liar, the very notion of telling the truth would hurt him."

Kanai waited until the man had calmed down and slumped to a sitting position before he started firing questions at the prisoner. "What are you doing here?"

The spy struggled to keep his mouth closed, and sweat broke out on his forehead with the effort. Still, his strangled voice spoke against his will, "Scouting ahead of my battalion."

Kanai grinned like a predator sizing up a wounded deer. He continued, "What are you looking for?"

The spy gritted his teeth and actually bit onto his lower lip in an effort to hold in the answer to the question. "Lord Nakago ordered us to look for a strange power source."

Several soldiers unconsciously looked over to Mia at the mention of the power source. Was their greatest fear realized? Did Nakago know who they were protecting? "Do you know what or who you are looking for?"

The spy struggled a bit less on this question as it really didn't mean much to him, "No, only that they are Konan sympathizers."

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief knowing their identities were still safe. Kanai moved onto the more logistic questions that would determine their route out of Hokkan. "How many are behind you?"

The spy resumed his struggle not to divulge this information. You could almost see the fear in his eyes as he realized what would become of him if he betrayed his general. He hissed out, "200."

Kanai continued as if he were asking about the weather, "Are they regular troops? How many assassins?"

A groan escaped the spy's throat as he shouted, "Stop this! I won't tell you….Regular troops and 10 assassins." The man's face fell as his efforts to keep his information to himself failed miserably.

"Are there any Seiryu warriors in or leading your battalion?" Kanai asked turning serious again. If Nakago were that close, they were in serious trouble. The General of Kutou was a brilliant strategist, and their little company would never be able to defend against such overwhelming odds under the command of the General.

The spy simply hung his head now and stopped fighting the compulsion from the rope. His voice was low and mournful, "No. The threat was not great enough."

Kanai motioned for Suitani to produce the map of the area that they had previously used to chart their path to Mt Koko. "Are there any soldiers waiting along the route back?"

"Yes."

Kanai's eyes narrowed again, "Where and how many?" Suitani was prepared to mark the locations and numbers of the enemy troops.

They spy looked up through his bangs and eyed the Lieutenant. Just by looking at his eyes, you could tell the evil man was grinning, thinking that their win was inevitable, "50 at the mountain pass. 50 at the border. 100 on the trail half a day behind me."

Assistant Commander Suitani tapped the map and studied the path they intended to travel. He stepped up and asked a question while Kanai paused. "Are you planning any ambushes?"

The spy huffed at the thought. His voice dripped with disdain, "No, the terrain is too unpredictable."

The Lieutenant drew the man's attention back to himself as he asked a follow up question. "What were you supposed to do if you found these sympathizers?"

The spy grinned an evil smirk that could be seen even through the half mask that covered his face. "Take prisoners if possible and report back to Lord Nakago."

Mia leaned over to Chichiri again as the men around her began squirming. "Hey, Chichiri? What are we going to do with the spy once we get all we need to know from him? I mean, can you make him forget he ever saw us? Or that we caught him? It'd be really great if he went all the way to Touron looking for us. That would give us a big head start to Sairou."

Before anyone could react, the spy let out a painful scream as he was engulfed in a cloud of green glowing gas. Slowly, as the soldiers reacted, his body dissolved. A strong wind blew in through the flap door and circled about the room. The remnants of green dust were whisked out into the night air. A sinister laugh could be heard echoing on the wind. Mia gasped out loud, "Nakago!"

Lieutenant Kanai and Assistant Suitani leapt away from the scene in shock and immediately began issuing orders to the stunned men. Chichiri pushed Mia up against the back of Deguchi and turned to place his back up against her in a defensive stance, effectively sandwiching her between them. On her sides, Yamane and Tashima protected her flanks. There was no way they were going to let anything get to her.

Chichiri raised his staff and began scanning for any traces of the evil general, but there was nothing there. He admitted, "I can't feel his presence, and there is no hint of his aura. Is it possible for him to have done such a thing without even being here?"

Mia quietly commented from behind his back, "Isn't it possible that Miboshi can transport Nakago the same way you transported yourself? Maybe Miboshi has some way of monitoring spies from a long distance. It would explain why Nakago was always ahead of us in our quest when I was younger."

Kanai walked over to the huddle of manpower protecting Mia and shook his head, "If nothing else, we know he is now aware of our presence. So we can make our way to a different pass that is not guarded, and avoid their forces. It might cost a few extra days, but it's better than a confrontation." Everyone could see their Lieutenant formulating new plans and strategies to counteract this new development.

As the men loosened up their protective stance around Mia, she looked dejected at her circle of friends. "Well, there goes the idea of being sneaky. If we're going to be fighting whole armies, we might have to head home for reinforcements. Or maybe we could trade in these scratchy uniforms and gallop around in plain clothes?" Her smile brightened at the thought of wearing something cool like Nuriko used to wear, or was that, still wears… whichever.

Finally, Mia cleared her throat to get some attention and commented, "Well, this is all nice and cozy, but if you guys don't mind loosening up, I'd really like to get to sleep. And I can't change into my night clothes if you guys won't give me a little breathing room." The protective soldiers reluctantly agreed to give her only enough space for propriety's sake in changing. Mia still felt a little disgruntled, but came to the conclusion that she didn't care enough to make a fuss. All she really wanted was her bed. Not even the threat of a lurking Nakago was enough to deter her. With an ungraceful flop, she was face down in her bedding before anyone could even comment.

Chichiri walked up to the Lieutenant and commented, "I think I'll go and set up a few sutras to create a barrier that will disguise our presence, you know. It won't do much good if we are seen, but it should stop Nakago from being able to sense our location so easily." Kanai nodded, "I'm doubling the guard around the camp from here on out. No point in leaving ourselves so open. Up until now we assumed we were traveling undetected. Seems our arrogance has caught up with us. Tomorrow we will have to come up with a different route out of Hokkan and a better plan to protect your priestess." Kanai looked directly into Chichiri's eyes, "My men are among the best, but I don't know how much protection we can be against celestial warriors and wizards who can sweep into our camp on a breeze. I'd like to say we could guarantee her safety, but I'm not willing to risk her life on my pride. We need to get word to his Highness of this development and seek his input. He had given us a great responsibility and I refuse to disappoint him."

Chichiri headed towards the flap door and advised, "I will contact the Emperor at the earliest opportunity. But first the barrier." Out in the bone-aching cold, the blue-haired warrior moved cautiously about the little clearing. His eyesight was not much better than the average human's, but he could make out the slightly darker shapes of trees in the almost pitch blackness. He raised his hand in his typical chant position and said a small prayer before infusing the slip of paper with a bit of his power. It flared with a lovely shade of blue before dimming to a glow reminiscent of a firefly. He carefully placed the sutra on the first tree and moved to the other cardinal points in the clearing. While he was working, a stray thought broke into his concentration. "I wish Suzaku were here to guard the camp tonight."

As if in response to the thought from the warrior, a screeching call from a hunting bird reverberated about the forest. Chichiri was so shocked, that he actually dropped the sutra he was working on to the snowy ground. He jumped when the bit of power contained in the paper sparked before dissipating. For a second he thought "I'll have to start over with that one." before searching for the source of the echoing cry.

His skin began surging with the prickling power of his god. This was the same feeling he had at his first meeting with the great Phoenix protector of Konan. Searching eyes finally found the sight they yearned for. A growing red glow was traveling through the forest from the west. Chichiri immediately dropped to his knees at the sight of Suzaku in human form as he strode silently into the clearing.

As he felt the piercing eyes of the beast god turn to pierce him, Chichiri bowed his head in reverence, although he kept his eyes pinned on his god. Suzaku inclined his head in recognition and walked to the first of the sutras the wizard had set. Suzaku raised his arm and gently touched the slip of paper with one of his perfectly formed, long fingers. The paper flared and then exploded into a red flame.

Chichiri was shocked at the destruction of his protective ward and gasped out loud. Still, he did nothing as the beast god walked to the other 3 papers and repeated this gesture. Finally, Suzaku floated over to Chichiri and reached down for the forgotten sutra on the ground. It too exploded into flame as Suzaku lifted it and placed it upon the tree that Chichiri had intended to use as the final corner of the protective barrier. With the placement of this last bit of flame, a strange web of red light seemed to weave itself back and forth above the campsite in a lacy dome.

In awe, Chichiri approached the dome and carefully reached out to finger one of the shiny red filaments. It danced harmlessly over his skin and returned to its place in the web. Chichiri barely had a voice to speak his question but he managed a squeak, "A barrier?" With shocked eyes, he turned back to face the Phoenix. A beautiful, disarming smile appeared on the previously unemotional face of the god as he gestured towards the tent that held the sleeping priestess. The chocolately deep voice echoed, "I will protect that which is mine." Then the red and gold armored figure dissolved into a mist of glittering red dust. But, unlike last time, this mist did not disperse or return heavenward. Instead, it drifted over the tent and filtered down through the fabric itself.

As the last hint of red glow faded from the tent roof, Chichiri scrambled up from his kneeling position and sprinted for the flap door. Murmuring and gasping could be heard from the interior of the tent as he whipped back the flap and entered the scene. Battle-hardened soldiers were staring in open-mouthed shock as the red mist coalesced into the shape of the beautiful Phoenix god. Even though the attack was futile, Deguchi, Kanai and Yamane charged towards the intruder to protect the sleeping Mia. Amazingly enough, the smile on the god's face grew even larger as he carefully swept his hand before him, like swatting away a fly. The three men found themselves sprawled on the ground on the opposite side of the tent from where they had started.

Chichiri watched with a feeling somewhere between awe and concern as the glowing figure knelt beside Mia's sleeping form. A long, graceful arm reached out a hand to caress the side of her face that was barely visible since she slept face down with her arms crossed under her head. Power increased from the pair, a power that even those soldiers who had no spiritual abilities could feel. Then, Suzaku reached his other hand out and rubbed her back until it glowed like a red-hot poker. When this occurred, he moved the rubbing hand to center over her back where her heart was housed, and moved his other hand to the back of her tousled head. The Phoenix's arms began glowing even brighter as his power sank into the figure of the sleeping priestess.

The soldiers could hear words being spoken by the great beast god, but they were nothing that could be understood. Still, this continued for a long moment before the power evaporated. By this time, Kanai had circled around to stand beside Chichiri at the front door. The wizard noticed this movement and absently wondered if the Lieutenant was happy, now that he got his wish to actually see the great Phoenix protector of Konan. At least, from what he could tell, none of the soldiers had soiled themselves in shock.

The rich, deep voice was again understandable as the beautiful, tall god brushed a finger down Mia's cheek. "I will be with you soon, priestess." Then the figure unfolded his seven foot tall frame from his kneeling position and stood to look about the room. His smile vanished and his look was one of gauging the hearts of all the men present. Chichiri noticed several men had knelt in reverence, while others remained on their feet in pride and defiance. Kanai himself seemed to tense as if in preparation for an attack against his men.

Instead, the beast god closed his eyes and lowered his head in concentration. Several crimson beams shot out from him and struck each man within the confines of the tent. Half the men were blown over by the power, and the other half stood glowing in the ethereal fire of his presence.

It only lasted a second before the light in the tent returned to its previous dimness. Only the meager firelight flickered among the men, casting strange and fearsome shadows on the god. Without making a single sound, the god approached the flap door where Kanai and Chichiri still stood. Behind him, Deguchi, Yamane and Tashima took up defensive positions between the door and Mia. Not that they could do much against a god, but it was still their duty to protect their friend.

Standing at nearly seven feet tall, Suzaku towered over Chichiri by a head and a half, and over Kanai by at least a head. Normally, just the sheer presence of someone so much taller staring down at you would have been intimidating. But neither man felt any such negative feeling. Both were struck with a feeling of awe and anticipation. What would happen next?

Although the fire was directly behind the god, everyone could see his face with the ease of daytime. There was no aggression on that incredibly beautiful face, only concern and appreciation. His glowing eyes beheld his warrior and he spoke again, "You need only to call and I will come if it is for the protection of my priestess." He reached out and carefully grasped Kanai's right hand in a non-threatening manner as he continued, "Those of you found worthy have been marked as assistants to my warrior and priestess." He held up the hand and showed the Lieutenant that a small symbol the size of a thumbnail had been etched on the palm of his hand in red. As the beast god continued to speak, this symbol glowed a warm, soothing red, as did the mark on the other soldiers that had received it. "You who bear my mark have been charged with the duty of protecting this woman. If she is in need of my assistance, you may also call out to me and I shall come. But only for this solitary purpose. Those not chosen will not remember this encounter at all." All about the tent, the men who had not been knocked to the ground were gasping at the discovery of the glowing mark on their dominant hand.

A moment later, Suzaku released Kanai's hand and again faced the Lieutenant and Chichiri. The smile faded as he looked at the two men in charge with a stern and serious face. His voice lowered for only them to hear, "My priestess is not well. The illness she contracted from her world is slowly eating away at her body, just as changing her past is slowly eating away at her soul. I charge the two of you with the additional duty to call me if she worsens. My powers sustain her on this quest, but when she expends them, her body deteriorates. If she exhausts all the powers I have lent her before I can return to replenish them, I fear she will die." His eyes turned to cast a loving look back towards the unaware Mia as he added, "I ask this of you, because I know my priestess is too stubborn to call me for her own well being."

Then without further comment, the god strode between the stunned Chichiri and Kanai and exited the structure. Once they had swarmed out the flap door to follow him, Chichiri noticed the beast god examining the web-like barrier. He explained, "Erect this barrier every night to prevent your enemies from detecting her spiritual powers. It would not bode well for them to find her in her weakened condition." Then, with a loud, trumpeting screech, the inhumanly beautiful man transformed into a giant red Phoenix and ascended up through the lacy barrier, without disturbing it, and was gone.

Chichiri and Kanai just exchanged glances and then turned to face the other men who were apparently found worthy, because they were conscious and standing about outside the tent entrance. It seemed most of the front guard was present except for Nishi, the rat-like man, and Ohara, the round soldier. Of the rear guard, only the healer Eguchi and one of the archers, Uno, were standing beside the large man, Deguchi. Kanai scanned the scene and noticed that his Assistant Commander was not before them. Did that mean that the man had not been deemed worthy? Or had he simply remained within to guard the unconscious soldiers and sleeping priestess? Kanai surely hoped it was the second reason since he had known Suitani since they were children and had vouched for his character on numerous occasions.

The Lieutenant took a moment to collect his thoughts, and rubbed the now invisible mark on the palm of his right hand. He announced to those before him, "We will not speak of this to the others. It would be too hard to explain, and might cause discord in the ranks. Each of you knows what you witnessed and are aware of the duty that has been charged to us by the highest authority in our lands." The soldiers straightened up even taller at the recognition they had received. Kanai continued, "We shall not be remiss in our duty, and will defend our priestess to the utmost of our ability. The guard shall be doubled, but it will not pass beyond this barrier. Eguchi, you shall go and retrieve Nishi from his position guarding the trail. If the others are any indication, you may find him unconscious, so look carefully. We cannot afford to have any of our men outside this celestial barrier. The rest of you should return to rest since it seems we shall be having a few interesting days ahead of us."

As the men murmured among themselves and Eguchi vanished into the night, Kanai turned to Chichiri and quietly asked, "Is this normal behavior for a priestess and god? I mean, I've heard the stories of other priestesses. I just don't remember hearing anything about gods visiting them, healing them, and commissioning assistant warriors."

Chichiri could only shrug his shoulders, "It's nothing that I've ever heard of either. I will have to contact Taiitsukun soon for her counsel on this matter. There are many things about this quest that are unheard of. The largest anomaly is of course, the ability for the priestess to travel back in time. Or, for the priestess to wield the god's powers after the summoning and wishes have been granted. Also, I have never known a god to take a personal interest in his priestess. I just don't know what to expect anymore." Chichiri rubbed his temples to stave off the headache that was building at trying to understand such conflicting events.

Kanai grinned a lopsided smirk as he motioned for Chichiri to precede him into the tent. He commented, "Well, it is patently obvious that this particular god is quite taken with this particular priestess to the point of seeming quite possessive. I'd hate to see what would happen if she were to be injured."

Chichiri shivered, and not from the cold, "True. One of the reasons Taiitsukun taught me for keeping the protective gods distant from humanity was just such a reason. With the power to create and destroy entire universes, an angry god is a dangerous god."

Kanai edged back to his regular sleeping position to the left of a still sleeping Mia. He noticed that, thankfully, his assistant commander was awake and rubbing the spot on his palm where a mark had been a few moments ago. Chichiri settled back on his pallet to Mia's right. As both men stared into the small fire and contemplated the changes of the evening, the Lieutenant snorted one last thought, "The power to destroy entire universes. Just great. No pressure there!" then flopped his head down on his bedding and tried to fall asleep.

OoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooO

AN: Whew, I didn't mean for that to be such a long chapter. It just kept writing itself. Please forgive any spelling errors I didn't catch while editing. Editing kept evolving into adding to the storyline. Sheesh.

So, I hope this makes up for the long dry spell you readers had to endure while I studied for the Bar Exam. Needless to say, I survived, but I didn't get a t-shirt. I won't know the results for 2 months, so I'm in limbo.

Please review just to let me know I didn't lose any readers. I'd hate to disappoint any of you.


	11. Chapter 11 Three days to the next pass

Three days!

Mia galloped along in the middle of the column of weary soldiers and worried. It would take three additional days to reach the second pass through the mountains. Since they had encountered the spy and learned that their path back had been closed to them a new route had been mapped as she slept. There was no way that fourteen soldiers, her and Chichiri could take on 200 battle hardened Kutou soldiers. Sure, her guys were great, but the odds against them were staggering! Sixteen to Two hundred!!! That was suicide. They'd have to kill a dozen soldiers each to win.

As much as Mia enjoyed a good scrap, and always cheered for the underdog, she simply could not see anyway for that to succeed, unless one of her friends suddenly pooped out some canons or high explosives. Now, a well-placed explosion could possibly open up a hole in the enemy's ranks and demoralize them. But, that was just a wish since, as far as she could see, such devices did not exist here. Must have been some type of trade off for the presence of magic and godly protections. Still….

Even though it was still terribly cold in these higher elevations as they skirted the edges of the mountain range looking for a second pass, Mia was beginning to sweat under her multiple layers of clothing and armor. This would take too long. She consulted her pages in her fanny pack so often that the yellow, lined legal pages were beginning to curl and darken. There were only ten days left before the first quest of her younger self drew to a close. Only ten days until the younger priestess would return to the palace and attempt to summon Suzaku for the first time. But even fewer days were left before Chichiri had to abandon them and return to the palace. If she calculated right, he had to leave in four or five days. That was just two or three days after they cleared the pass! She clearly remembered him being at the palace in his Hotohori disguise upon their return when the Emperor slipped off to trade places with him. That was the first time that Tasuki and Mitsukake realized that the Hotohori that had traveled with them was in fact the Emperor.

Mia pulled the lined paper out again and studied the information for the millionth time as Tank continued to gallop along on auto-pilot. Good thing for smart horses. In the back of her mind, Mia wished that she could ask Suzaku to reincarnate the incredible war horse, but what kind of life could he have in her world?

Her younger self was out wandering looking for the last warriors. They had already found Mitsukake but had not visited Tamahome's village to heal his father yet. She fingered the timeline she had sketched in the margin and figured that Miaka and the warriors were three or four days away from Tamahome's village.

She then tried to calculate how far away her group was away from the palace, Tamahome's village and Sairou. If they needed help or reinforcements, it was good to know where they could be found. What worried her the most was trying to figure out when the time would come where there was no way she could reach the Byakko Shinzaho and return to the palace in time to witness the first summoning. At some point of no return, she would have to decide too much time had passed and simply return to the palace with her tail between her legs. In the back of her mind, it seemed important to be present for the initial summoning. No, important wasn't the word. It was imperative. It felt as if her not being there would bring the entire world of the book crashing to ashes. Maybe, after the summoning, if Miaka were successful, she would still be permitted to continue her quest into Sairou. It was something to think about, but at this point, she was not willing to admit defeat so easily.

As much as she had hoped to avoid interacting with the younger Miaka and the other warriors, some things were just inevitable. No matter if she had written them into her edited story. A half smirk crossed her face as she realized how unpredictable her journey was. She thought she had covered every possible aspect of this adventure when she had rewritten the Universe of the Four Gods, but there seemed to be a second intelligence at work. For the hundredth time, she berated herself for placing the additional blood on each page in case the book wanted to add some details. She should have just left it alone. Stupid book!

Another thing that truly caused Mia to worry and sweat was the presence of Nakago and the other Seiryu warriors. Every now and again, she would get a sense of them not far behind and then it would vanish. It felt to her like a blink of power. Each time, it made her skin crawl. Nakago was very distinctive in his aura, and the others just felt insignificant in comparison. Thankfully, it was not often Nakago that she felt, but one of the others. Maybe they were transporting over to supervise the troops that dogged their trail. Maybe the blink of sensation came from a communication technique like Chichiri's "peeping Tom hat?" Whatever it was, it kept her from relaxing and enjoying the ride.

In truth, there was nothing to enjoy about this particular ride. All the men were aware of the encroaching enemies that were surrounding them. After the encounter with the spy, it became more obvious that Mia and the column were being herded along the ridge of snow-capped mountains. At least one good thing was that they were being forced to travel west, which was the way they were supposed to head to reach Sairou. Hopefully, this detour would shorten their time in the desert.

Although, Mia had been really looking forward to some sun and sand to scour away the feeling of her freezing limbs. She had not ever warmed up after her little ice entombment at the hands of the Genbu warriors. If those two WERE reincarnated into her world, she was going to get even with them. Maybe she'd lock them in a freezer for an hour. Or dump ice water down their pants! Or toss them out into the snow in just their boxers! An evil little smile graced her worried face as she took a mental vacation and planned all the ways she could get revenge in her world. Of course, not being truly evil at heart, most of her plans were rather sophomoric and childish. Still, it eased her troubled mind for a time.

Lieutenant Kanai and Chichiri had already about decided that the Kutou forces were setting up a trap for them in the next available mountain pass. It only made sense, since they had closed their previous egress out of the country. With the fifty enemy soldiers at the border and the hundred following behind them, it would be easy to be cornered in a dead end canyon in this unfamiliar mountain range or bottled up in the western pass with the enemy before and behind them.

The pace set by the Lieutenant had been grueling. The camp had been struck even before the sky had thought about brightening to indicate the approach of morning. For some reason, the cold morning had seemed even colder with the singing of the birds that heralded dawn. Mia remembered pulling all-nighters in college and she had a particular, irrational hate for those annoying birds. Probably because they signaled the end of her cram session and the approach of the deadline she was dreading, be it a test, or a project that needed turning in. The combination of exhaustion and dread was never a pretty picture.

So, as the sun lightened the sky to the East, the column of Konan soldiers galloped off to the west at a break-neck pace. Mia realized quite early on that she needed to learn to gallop in her half asleep state, and had a few near disasters as she learned this useful skill. She felt bad for Tank. He simply carried on as he was instructed and seemed to know when he needed to shift about to keep her centered on his back. Good thing it was such a broad back. It was almost like sitting on a kitchen table. At one point, she really thought about just leaning back and resting her head on his rump but she figured that would be "disgraceful" for a soldier of Konan, an image she was honor bound to uphold. Also, after glancing back at the muscles bunching and shifting on his rump, she realized that would make a horrible pillow.

The front detachment of soldiers were actually riding far forward from the center of the column, with Yamane out scouting the best paths through the treacherous wintry country side. It would be a mistake to just plunge along blindly, and this is what the short powerful man was trained for. When the remaining men would meet up with the advanced scout, the column would pause for a moment to rest the horses and let Yamane continue his search.

At the first such pause, Mia had been handed some dried meat for what she assumed was Breakfast. The ration didn't seem very appealing, and the smell was even more offending that the meat's appearance. With a bit of a shrug, she slid off her horse, and approached one of the two pack animals where her travel duffle was strapped. It took a bit of work, but she finally twisted the bag around so she could unzip the pocket that held her own provisions, and withdrew some commercially dried meat and the packs of dried fruit. She placed enough for breakfast and a few snack breaks into the hidden pockets of her jacket that hid under her soldier uniform, and secured the duffle bag. With a side trip to a nice snow covered bush to take care of some morning business that she had not have an opportunity to address, she was mounted back up on her favorite gelding and ready to proceed when the signal came from the advanced guard.

Hour after hour they galloped like the Devil himself was on their heels. All the days of riding had toughened Mia's more tender parts, but they had not prepared her for this. Her muscles cramped from continuous usage, and the parts of her body that came into contact with the saddle felt like someone had beaten her with a hammer. What made it worse was that there was no happy banter to distract her mind from her aches and pains that multiplied. Each man seemed to be strung as tight as the string on the bows on the backs of the archers behind her. Their anxious alertness was indeed contagious. Even the usually cheerful Chichiri had lapsed into morose quietness and meditation.

A pattern developed where they rode at an insanely swift speed. Then, they caught up to the advance detail and waited. Once the correct path had been located, a signal sounded, and they rode off like maniacs again. This continued all day, without cease or deviation. At one stopping point, Mia realized that Eguchi, the ex-ninja, healer, had ridden up behind the column. She hadn't even noticed the quiet man missing, but then realized that he had been erasing their trail through the mountains. Maybe that would be enough to slow the enemy and give the column a bit of breathing space. Then they continued on and the monotonous routine resumed.

So, not only was there nothing to distract her mind from her bodily pains, but there was nothing to distract her mind from its manic worrying. She turned over each facet of her plan and each leg of the journey, over and over, looking for anything that might help or might hinder them. By the end of the first day of hard riding, she was actually wishing for some type of attack from the following enemy, just to give her something else to think about!

After the sun set, they kept riding onward. It was more difficult because the long shadows in the forested areas hid any possible watchers, and the path could easily be lost. Mia was again almost completely blind. Of all the things she regretted in her life, her lack of night vision was becoming the greatest hindrance now. She could see the shadows of her companions against the snowy patches that dotted the foothills of the mountains, but that was about all. With the oppressive darkness, all the fears from childhood resurfaced, just as they had the night before. And no matter how often she chastised herself for her irrational fears, they did not depart.

For the first time in hours, she spoke out into the echoing silence. "Lieutenant? How long are we going to travel in the darkness? Because, I think I might need to ride with someone who has better eyesight. I can't see a bloody thing!" Her ears strained to locate each member of the column around her. She had thought once that the other senses grew sharper to compensate for the lack of one, but apparently, that took longer than a few hours.

At her left elbow, his calm, deep voice answered her. "We will ride half way through the night if Yamane can continue finding such wide trails. Our goal is to reach the second pass before the Kutou troops at the border can move to meet us. So far we have probably been traveling much faster than they are. Still, we have to calculate in the time we will lose in the deeper snow of the higher pass to the west."

Chichiri spoke in his almost normal friendly voice to her right elbow, "You may ride with me if you wish. It might also help you to get some sleep, without having to worry about falling off your horse, you know?" She could just hear the grin in his voice and picture the smile that made his expressive eyes squint shut. Yes, she would forever be the butt of the joke about her horsemanship skills. Whatever!

After a huffed assent to this plan, Mia felt Chichiri's horse brush up against her right leg. She turned in that direction to ask what he was doing, only to be swiftly grasped under her arms and hoisted out of the saddle. For only an instant, she dangled precariously between the two warhorses, and a vision of her being dropped and stomped flashed across her mind. Then, she was being settled sidesaddle across the tops of Chichiri's thighs and snuggled as his arms draped across her front and back to regain control of his reins.

Without even thinking, she whacked Chichiri on his closest arm as she protested, "You could have warned me, you know! So much for being a gentleman!" The only response she received was a bemused chuckle from her blue-haired friend. She was almost too tired to even argue with this man, but she pulled up enough energy to complain, "I bet you wouldn't manhandle Miaka, now would you!"

His calm, voice tickled her ear that was closest to his face as he explained, "You most likely would not have the energy to dismount and remount my horse so I thought I would help you. Besides, I know your younger self is being closely guarded by a very jealous Tamahome, and I enjoy my face remaining where it is."

In a hazy part of her sleepy mind, Mia noticed that the mention of Tamahome didn't dredge up the grief that usually plagued thoughts of her lost beloved. It was as if she had placed that life into a box in her mind and closed the lid. She would think about it when there was time, but until then, she just had to survive somehow.

The motion of the horse beneath them matching the gait of the column seemed to lull the anger out of her. Truthfully, she had not been angry, simply surprised. And she had learned long ago, that sometimes, she masked her surprise by reacting like she was angry. It kept people at a safer distance.

Chichiri spoke again and brought her attention back to himself. "Mia, you should probably get some sleep. I promise I won't let you fall. Tomorrow will be just as long a day as today."

She shook her head in denial, "No. It's not fair for me to sleep while the rest of you are staying awake. I can handle it. It's just that I couldn't see where anything was and I didn't want to slow down the column by falling off, or running into a tree." Her body seemed to have a mind of its own as she found her head resting against the chest of her warrior. She snuggled her cheek into his warmth.

He laughed quietly again at her movements. "No, it's fine. We are used to traveling long into the night. You are not. Besides, we have a vested interest in keeping you healthy. You are the only one who has any idea where we are going! You know?" Then he wrapped his arms a bit tighter around her petite frame. If she were not wearing the army issue helmet, he might have enjoyed burying his nose into the crown of her auburn hair. Even though it had been four days since the bath that Mia had won against Yamane, Chichiri speculated that her hair still smelled better than most women he had ever known.

Her only answer to his reasoning for why she needed to sleep was a breathy "hmm" followed by complete silence. When he felt her body lean heavily against him, he realized that she had already fallen asleep. A smile of adoration graced his real face as well as his mask. With as little jostling as he could manage, he switched both reins into his right hand and brought his now empty left hand around her waist towards her back so it was encircling her frame.

It was then that he noticed how truly thin she was. With all the clothing she draped over herself, it had escaped his notice. Her backbone was quite prominent even through her uniform, and the sharp points of her shoulders and hips poked at him a bit as she leaned against him.

His quick mind again compared her older self against what he knew of the younger self. Young Miaka ate like a man, but was still small, with a bit of baby fat to her face. This older Mia was still quite lean and strong, but had lost quite a lot of weight apparently due to her grief and suffering. He could only imagine what a totally healthy Mia in her prime looked and felt like. He blushed just a bit at the idea of "feeling" a healthy Mia. Of course, he meant feeling as in a hug. Nothing more. Just a friendly hug, among old friends.

Maybe, if her plans worked out like she hoped, he would get the chance to know that Mia as well, in her world. He actually was looking forward to watching her in one of those competitions she had described when they were all telling stories. Then, an image of her, married and pregnant with her daughter flashed in his mind and he hugged this fragile woman against him a little tighter. The vision was stirring on a totally male level. Some men were turned off when their wives were round with child, but Chichiri didn't feel that way. A woman carrying a new life was indescribably beautiful in his eyes. He found himself hoping to be around when she was like that also.

The urge to snuggle this precious woman again surfaced in him like a recurring dream. He leaned back in his saddle just enough that she could truly rest against him without feeling like she would slide off. It might put a strain on his back muscles, but it would be worth it if he could be her comfortable bed for the night. It swelled his male pride that she could trust him so much that she could instantly drop to sleep in his arms. Then he blushed a bit again as he realized what he had thought. She was sleeping in his arms.

He struggled with his thoughts a moment before he decided he needed to meditate a bit to center himself. He did not close his eyes this time since that would probably lead them into a tree. His horse was not quite as docile or intelligent as Mia's gray gelding. So, he performed the beginning exercises that had become second nature to him after so many years of Taiitsukun's tutelage.

After feeling calm and in control of himself again, he thought back over the previous night's events. Between himself, Lieutenant Kanai and Assistant Suitani, they had come up with the plan of driving towards the western pass. It was higher in elevation, so it was more treacherous in the snowy months, but they had little choice. None wanted to attempt to plow through the enemy at the lower pass, and the mountain range stretched the length of the country. Enough hard riding and skills of the company's ninja doctor, should make it almost impossible for the troop following them to keep up. If they could pull far enough away from the 100 men following them, they would only have to deal with the 50 of so men at the border. And that was only if the border division knew of their plans and moved to intercept them.

If luck was truly on their side, not to mention their skills as soldiers, tacticians and horsemen, they would cross the border before the enemy could shift to cut them off. Still, surely, Nakago knew that if he blocked one pass, they would turn towards the other. Was there some hidden danger lurking in the supposedly open western pass?

If the mountains themselves were not so imposing, they had even discussed the possibility of simply traveling up and over a shorter mountain. But, with their time restraints, that seemed an impossible suggestion. If nothing else, it was their last ditch effort for leaving the country in a group. If even that failed, and there was no other way, the Lieutenant demanded that Chichiri transport Mia out like he had traveled back to the palace. The rest of them would find their way out eventually.

Chichiri's mind then turned to the odd discussion that followed this change in plans. It had been decided, by all the men that were conscious, that none of them would mention the celestial visit that night to Mia or the other soldiers. It seemed that the beast god had some reason to appear without waking the slumbering priestess.

The look on the ethereal God's beautiful face had disturbed Chichiri as he had pondered over it all day. It was the look a father had for a child, or a husband had for a wife. None of this fit with anything he had ever learned about the Guardian Gods of the Four lands. The more he thought, the more questions he raised. It was now imperative that he contact Taiitsukun to ask about these developments.

He had listened to Mia talk about the "time line" of the other quest and tried to figure when would be the best time to leave for a bit in this search. Should he go before they reached the pass? Should he wait until after they avoid the possible ambush at the pass? What if they fell to the greater forces? What if Taiitsukun could offer some advice that might help their chances of survival?

With all these thoughts and more, he planned to excuse himself late on the second day of their dash for the pass and return before dark. In his excursion, he would also take the time to update the Emperor on the changes and strange happenings on this journey. He was sure that Hotohori would be impressed with the power of this older Mia. Then he would reinitialize his Emperor puppet at the palace to enhance its believability. It should be running out of power soon and it would be bad to have the Emperor simply fade from existence and be replaced by a sutra.

Mia shifted in his arms and he felt her face snuffling around the scratchy fabric of the army uniform until her soft skin made contact with his neck. Her forehead was pressed against the side of his neck, and her gentle breath blew down the gap between his own robes and the uniform over them. He stiffened as all his attention was locked on the woman gracing his arms. He had not felt anything like this in so long. Not since his beloved fiancé had passed away.

In her sleep, she turned her face up farther into the warm expanse of skin and whispered, "So warm." Before Chichiri could even register anything, her face pushed farther into his skin, causing him to shiver. Then he felt the warm, wet lips against his pulse as she kissed his exposed neck.

His world shattered for a moment at the intense emotions that swirled free in his head. He sucked in a huge gasp as he realized what she had done. When she did not continue, but rather, shifted back so her forehead was against his neck, he forced himself to relax. Her body went limp in his arms and he sighed in relief that she had fallen into a deep sleep again.

He tried to calm himself and analyze what had just happened. Obviously, she had been asleep, so it didn't really mean anything. Sleeping people did stuff all the time without realizing it. Also, she might have thought he was Tamahome.

Still, what worried him the most was his reaction. The simple contact had lit him on fire and doused him with ice water all in the same motion. He had felt thrilled with the show of affection, and terrified at the implications all at the same time. It almost seemed like a crack had opened up inside him and those warm feelings of being in love and cherished leaked out into the open.

He had sworn a vow of celibacy after the death of his beloved fiancé when he entered training under Taiitsukun. He had purposely kept women at arms length to prevent any unforeseen complications. The last thing he needed was a woman who fell in love with him when he couldn't return those affections. It had never occurred to him that he might be the one with feelings that couldn't be returned. He almost felt like he was betraying his fiancé. And he knew for a fact, that he was betraying his friend Tamahome.

With these new heavy thoughts to weigh down on his mind, the blue-haired warrior knew sleep would not claim him tonight. That was a good thing, since he held Mia to allow her to sleep. He also knew that he had to take a serious, long look at his feelings for this winsome woman from another world. He was confident that by morning, he would know what to do, and how to act. He knew that he would do nothing to jeopardize her mission or their friendship. The rest, he would just have to wait and see.

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AN: Okay, a bit of Chichiri fluff for you die-hard fans. I mean, I know she might not jump right into a relationship because of the trauma of losing her whole family a few weeks to a month ago. But, Chichiri has been alone for...what...6 years? Something like that. He might be susceptible to feelings growing without his knowledge.

So, I hope you are all sufficiently fluffed for now.

Review if you want


	12. Chapter 12 Hitch in his Get Along

Morning broke over the mountain range behind the traveling band of Konan soldiers and Chichiri was no closer to knowing what to do with his new feelings than he had been in the still of the night. He had been sure that a night of contemplation would generate a solution. Little did he realize that matters of emotions can't be reasoned away that easily. He was left with few viable options that would not jeopardize this quest or her friendship.

He could ignore it and keep acting like he had before. According to Mia, this would all be over in about ten days. After that, she would go back to her world. Was there any point in revealing his feelings to the bereaved priestess? Her thoughts were solely centered on summoning Suzaku and wishing her world revived; which included her husband and daughter. It would be wrong of him to add his confusing feelings onto her already overburdened shoulders. The poor woman already had to deal with the misguided affections of the Emperor. He had to think about what was best for her. But telling himself that did nothing to prevent him from thinking about his own interests.

Then again, he could just tell her and see where things went. If she was truly working towards allowing all the warriors the option of being reincarnated into her world, then, he would be seeing her again. He might have a chance for…. What? He ran into the obstacle of her already being spoken for. Would he want to alter her life to the point that she didn't meet or fall in love with Tamahome?

His mind bogged down at the confusing thoughts of having a lifetime's worth of memories in a new body in her world. Or, possibly several lifetimes worth, if they were reincarnated in this world until their paths were finished before moving on to her world. If three of the warriors were in love with her in this incarnation, how would that affect them in her world? Would all three of them retain those strong feelings? If Mia fell in love with someone other than Tamahome, would their remaining feelings cause problems? With as volatile and childish as Tamahome was sometimes, Chichiri could easily see him pursuing the priestess in her world even if he were rebuffed.

He tried to imagine the outcome of telling her his feelings and could only see three possible outcomes. One, she rejected his feelings outright, stating she didn't feel the same. Two, she stated it was too soon after the death of her family to form any kind of feelings. Three she felt something towards him stronger than mere friendship.

But, then again, hadn't Mia said that she wanted each warrior to be able to offer reincarnation to their family and loved ones also? He could find his fiancé in his next life and carry her with him into the future. Could he justify a pursuit of Mia when he had already committed his heart to another? Would it be fair to either woman?

By the time the early morning birds heralded the dawn of a new day, Chichiri had already worried himself into a crippling headache. As before, Lieutenant Kanai had risen at an ungodly hour and roused the camp into action. It had felt like only a few breaths since they had stopped the mad dash to rest a bit. It was actually less of a sleep break than it was a rest for the weary horses. Not that Chichiri had actually even closed his eyes. His thoughts kept circling around in his head like churning storm clouds.

Speaking of storm clouds, Mia seemed to be in a terribly foul mood this morning. Which was actually rather odd since she got the most sleep out of anyone in their column. She seemed to trail a cloud of anxiety that was affecting everyone. These battle-hardened soldiers, who had probably survived much harsher conditions, were seemingly at their breaking point as far as temper.

Already this morning, Yamane, the short man that Mia had beaten, had verbally attacked half of the soldiers, and threatened to "kick the Princess's ass" if she didn't stop slowing them down. Needless to say, this did not garner the feisty little man any fans in the crowd of Mia supporters. Even the quiet, gentle giant, Deguchi seemed to be itching to pummel the advanced scout.

Mia herself had chafed under the unwanted attention and hostility and responded by riding her warhorse even harder than she did the day they were pushed by the Nakago related snow storm. The normally calm and collected Lieutenant Kanai was caught swearing under his breath several times over the course of the morning by Chichiri's attentive ears. For that matter, those soldiers who didn't seem angry seemed to be submersed in anxiety and worry. The rear guard seemed to ride up a lot closer to Mia, Chichiri, Lieutenant Kanai and Assistant Suitani. Now, whether it was out of caution or fear, Chichiri couldn't quite tell.

To speed up the process of scouting out the correct path, two men were trading off on the duty. Nishi, the beady-eyed man who made Mia think of a rat, was sent to assist Yamane. One would ride hard out in front of the column, while the other would rest his mount when the troops would catch up to him. Then, he would ride with the others until they reached the next resting stop and then he would ride hard out in front while the other scout rested with the column. This kept them going most of the morning in an almost non-stop dash towards the pass.

The Lieutenant had also suggested that they might want to double the men up on a single horse and lead the other mount, so one man could rest while the other controlled the horse. Still, in Chichiri's head, this didn't really seem to save much time, since they would be constrained by how much the horses could handle, not necessarily how long the soldiers could stay awake. Still, it was an option that they might have to use during the night hours, when no one would see them acting less than "manly."

Mia woke in a foul mood and it had only gotten worse. She felt like her forehead was going to cramp with the frown that seemed permanently etched there. Nothing had gone right this morning. There had been the disgusting, pre-dawn wake up call, and then there wasn't even enough time to allow her to 'shake the bushes' before the Lieutenant had practically thrown her up on Tank. Anyone who has ever ridden in a long car ride with a female who desperately needs a restroom break would know just what state the distressed priestess was in.

Even her calm and behaved horse had been acting up. For some reason, she would be riding along, comfortably ignoring everything, when he would suddenly hop an extra step into his steady stride. It had the effect of nearly unseating her every time. She couldn't figure out what was causing the trouble, but it seemed to happen every time she zoned out and stopped truly paying attention to her surroundings.

Then there was the situation with her warrior. All morning, Chichiri had been sporting his fake calm face and totally ignoring her. Not only would he not speak to her, but he wouldn't even make eye contact. When she tried to engage him in idle conversation, he acted as if he could not even hear her. Now, she acknowledged that her friend was deep in thought, and might even be meditating, or something, but it still hurt her feelings to be so completely shunned.

Then there was the endless riding and tenseness of the group. At each rest stop, tempers flared and fights nearly broke out. What had once been a jovial, companionable group had turned into a bunch of surly bad asses that were just itching for a battle. At one of the earliest breaks, she had dismounted to dash towards the nearest underbrush that would offer her some privacy. On her return trip towards her mount, Yamane had stalked over to her and taken a wild swing at her head. Luckily for her, she caught the movement out of the corner of her eye, and twisted her head slightly, so the meaty fist connected with her helmet instead of the side of her face. Still, the force of the blow snapped her head fiercely to the side, and sent her helmet soaring towards the rear guard. She was truly fortunate that Chichiri and Lieutenant Kanai were nearby to subdue the scout since the blow had set her ears to ringing, and caused her vision to blur. Kanai towered over the shorter man and cuffed him across the face and sent him flying back towards his heaving horse. The Lieutenant proceeded to yell at his underling in such a manner that spit was literally flying halfway across the group.

It was a slightly dazed Mia who remounted her previously trusty horse and continued her battle to predict the stutter step in the horse's gait and not succumb to the pull of gravity.

The sun was high into the sky, nearing its zenith, when the column was halted for an extended lunch break. In an attempt to relieve some of the pent up tension, Assistant Suitani shouted, "Hand to hand combat practice by that tree and here in the clearing. Divide up into pairs and spar until you break a sweat. Anyone who causes a comrade serious injuries will be left behind to face the Kutou forces! Is that clear?" Grumbling accompanied the men as they chose their opponents.

Mia looked about and took note of the short tempers of all her normally kind friends, and made the decision to sit this round out. With the morning she was having, she half expected Yamane to challenge her to a fight to the death. A smirk crossed her face as she admitted to herself that it would probably be fun, but she just didn't think she had the energy to evade those meaty fists twice in one day.

Mia cautiously made her way to the huddle on the far side of the clearing where Lieutenant Kanai, Assistant Suitani and Chichiri were conversing. She avoided any direct confrontations with any of the men milling about. When she neared the trio, she hung back and waited until they were finished with their conference.

Chichiri turned and noticed a subdued looking Mia waiting patiently, and he was overcome with guilt for avoiding her, and also an intense desire to run away again. This just would not do. He knew his actions were unbecoming of a Suzaku warrior. With that thought in mind, he girded his loins and placed his patented fake smile on his face.

Mia recognized all the emotions that crossed the seemingly hidden face of her blue haired friend, and realized that something had changed to make him feel uncomfortable in her presence. She quietly sidled up to him and asked, while studying her feet, "Um, Chichiri, did I do something wrong?" When she got no response, she looked up at him from the corners of her eyes.

Chichiri actually froze, his mind going blank at her question. What could he tell her? He hadn't decided on a course of action yet. He didn't want to lie, but then, he didn't want to burden her with his affections if they were only one sided. He could always just fall back on his friend status, and worry about all these confusing feelings some other time. With that decision made, his mind felt suddenly clear, and he smiled a true smile, "No, Mia. You haven't done anything wrong. I'm sorry I've been so deep in thought. Things have just been happening so quickly, you know? I've been meaning to return to the palace to refresh my Emperor substitute and to contact Hotohori to update him on our progress. I guess I was just trying to figure the best time to go, you know?"

Mia sighed in relief at the reassurance that she had not driven away one of her oldest friends and responded, "You should probably go now, while everything is quiet. It seems like we have outdistanced our pursuers and still have a ways to go before reaching the pass." She huffed a bit in dismay, "At least it would save you a days worth of boring galloping." She grinned a devious smile again and asked, "Are you sure you can't just transport all of us in your hat?"

Chichiri snorted at the question that kept arising, no matter how many times he answered it in the negative. "You know, I'm sure I answered that question already… at least twice. I haven't gained any new skills since the last time you asked, you know?"

Mia sighed, with a wistful look on her face, "I know, but a girl can hope, can't she? So, since you can't play mass-transit for the rest of us, you should get your butt in gear and get going already. The sooner you leave, the sooner you can be back here having fun with the rest of us."

The playful grin that he had glimpsed before she humiliated Yamane was back in place on her face, and Chichiri felt like everything was right with the world again. He would worry about his feelings some other time when there was less at stake. Or, maybe, he would ask Taiitsukun about them. She was always good for pointing out options that he might have missed. He affected a hurt look on his face and pouted, "Are you trying to get rid of me? I'm really hurt, you know."

Mia barked out a laugh and swatted at the silly warrior as she hustled him off to his rendez-vous with other more interesting, and warmer, places. "Make sure to tell Hotohori I said 'Hi!' But don't let the others know it's me." She winked a conspiratorial wink at him and then he was gone in a swirl of blue cape and jingling staff.

At the departure of her friend, Mia suddenly felt a bit smaller and colder. She was alone among the mountains with men that she had only known for a handful of days. Was she nuts to trust her life and quest to these strangers? The strange feeling stretched on for another moment, then snapped like a rubber band stretched past its breaking point.

A frown crossed her face as she wondered how she could think such awful thoughts about these men who had risked their lives numerous times to save hers. These wonderful men who had cheered her when she was grieving, and who had listened and shared stories about families and adventures. Maybe it was the high altitude and the lack of oxygen that was causing her brain to malfunction. No matter, she needed to try and think clearly, and her first order of business was to discuss Tank's odd gait with the Lieutenant.

She approached the Lieutenant and noticed that he too seemed to be a bit touchy in this high altitude. She smiled her warmest smile and gently asked, "Lieutenant, can I ask you a question about horses?" She was sure she had approached the large man in a non aggressive manner, but his reaction led her to believe she had not.

He spun on her as if she had just insulted him and barked, "I don't have time to chit chat. Don't you have something to do? If not, I'm sure I can find you something, soldier." Anger flashed in his usually calm eyes and her mouth hung open in shock. Just as quickly, he spun away from her, his cape actually whipped against her in the motion, and stormed off.

Mia was stunned and simply stood there watching the receding figure. What was wrong with everyone today? Her eyes traveled across the clearing to notice that everyone seemed overly annoyed and angry. The sparring matches degraded into common brawls several times as she watched. In truth, the only person who seemed to be calm was the bushy-faced 'old man,' Tashima, who was preparing the lunch meal.

With a determined stride, Mia marched over to the cook fire and parked next to the older soldier. When he looked towards her with an open, questioning expression, she finally had to ask, "Are they always this way?" The good natured snort that answered her told her a lot. His gravelly voice mumbled, "Not this bad. Sometimes when a battle is looming, tempers might run high, but this is silly."

She glanced around again at the raised voices echoing from the sparring area by the tree and wondered, "It's not me is it? I'd hate to be the cause of this. Though I can't think of anything that I could have done that would cause all this."

The old man tugged thoughtfully at his scraggly beard and shook his head. "No, I don't think it's you. We've had tougher missions than this. Come to think of it, maybe they're just all constipated. That'll sure make a man cranky. I could always mix up something to make 'em 'go.'" His eyes that shone out from under the bushy eyebrows twinkled with mischief as he waited for what he had said to sink in.

Mia looked incredulous for a moment, and then started laughing. It wasn't a restrained, lady-like laugh, but a whole body, make your eyes tear up, kind of laugh. For some reason it was just so terribly funny that she couldn't stop. In her mind, she was picturing all those grumpy soldiers having to stop and dash for the bushes several times along the way to the pass and she laughed even harder. The more she thought about it, the funnier it got. Maybe it was just the release of tension, or that she hadn't found anything really gut-busting funny in a long time. But, she found herself slipping off the log beside the cook fire and almost rolling on the ground laughing. Her cheeks began cramping and her sides ached, but it felt so wonderful to truly laugh. A detached part of her mind thought, 'So this is what it means to be ROFLMAO.' Every time she even made eye contact with Tashima, she launched off into more peals of laughter. Her lungs were wheezing from the effort as her mirth slowly began to recede. Still, it would bubble back up when the thought replayed in her head, and she'd wheeze a bit more as she clutched her sides and wiped new tears from her eyes.

Trying to regain some sense of dignity, Mia hoisted her body back up onto the log where she had started. A chuckle still rippled through her every now and then as she watched the old man stir the meal. She kept a close eye on every spice he added to make sure there wasn't some sort of laxative slipped in. She snickered again as she remembered a prank she and some classmates pulled on some rude jocks with Ex-lax™ brownies. The coach never did seem to understand why his A-string players were suddenly unable to play. Good thing the bench warmers were good enough to squeak out a win.

So caught up in her own laughter, Mia never noticed the attention that she drew to the fire pit. The brawling seemed to stop once her peeling laughter rang about the clearing. It was fresh and bright, and seemed to dispel the dark cloud that hung over the group. Those men who had already taken a turn at beating each other senseless seemed to be drawn to the woman in their midst. Slowly, they drifted over to the cook fire, waited for the lunch meal, and listened as the two discussed pranks and jokes. When lunch was finally ready, the men ate and swapped their own stories of pulling tricks on each other. When time to remount arrived, the camaraderie of a few days ago had returned.

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In a dark corner of a dimly lit room in a distant palace, Nakago sat in a throne-like chair and watched the squirming boyish warrior plead for his life. Miboshi crouched before him like a toad poised to hop into a pond at the first sign of danger.

His evil, child-like voice hissed in distress, "Forgive me, oh great General Nakago. It seems that my enchantment over the band of Konan soldiers has been dispelled somehow. It should have been impossible. A charm such as this is impossible to counteract except by the strongest magical entities in the land. They should all be overcome with doubt, anxiety and anger by now. Please allow me another attempt to delay this party."

Nakago looked down his nose at the scene before him and tried to reign in his anger and disappointment. His voice was deep and cold as he spoke, "So, you have failed me yet again, Miboshi. It's bad enough that you can not seem to cast a spell that would allow us to view this new power. Now you can't even affect their moods. It seems that you are becoming quite useless. Why should I bother giving you another chance? It is obvious that one among these soldiers is stronger than you, or they are being protected by a greater power. Your efforts are futile."

The gold necklaces and earrings that draped over the child's body jingled as the evil spirit possessing it rose in agitation. The little top-like prayer wheel that he carried spun absently in response to its master's mood. The diminutive wizard's voice rose in anger, "None is greater than this Miboshi! I have dominion over all the evil demons in the pit of the afterworld and can summon all manner of black magic to confuse and delay the enemy. None can withstand my influence!"

Nakago simply scoffed at the outburst. "None can withstand your presence! Obviously, there is one among this strange group that CAN withstand your feeble attempts at influence. If you can not devise some way to delay them, then I will send a greater warrior in your stead. Now, leave me. I grow weary of your immaturity."

With that dismissal, the demon in the child's body shuffled away back to his own quarters to formulate new attacks that would be even harder to deflect. In his wake, he left a fuming and curious general who only focused on the flickering flame in the brassier beside him. His eyes grew distant and unfocused as he reached out with his formidable aura. He could only just barely detect the whisper of an enormous power far off in the northern wasteland of Hokkan. It washed over him like a forgotten scent.

Anger spiked in his cold, lifeless eyes as the blue kanji mark on his forehead shone with his effort. No matter how hard he tried to isolate this new power, it slipped away from him like a slimy eel. If he could fix its location, he could launch a directed attack to obliterate this threat. And he knew it was a threat. Any power this great could easily derail his intricate plans to manipulate this world to achieve his goals.

He steepled his fingers before his face and considered his options. Miboshi and Soi had failed to stop this band of Konan soldiers. Amiboshi was on assignment to infiltrate the Suzaku warriors. That only left Suboshi, Ashtare and Tomo as possible contingency plans if Miboshi couldn't formulate an effective strategy for stopping them. So, his choices were to send out an angry, reckless kid with a yo-yo, or the wolf-like killing machine, or a sadistic, condescending illusionist. An evil smile crossed the beautiful face of the general as he spoke to a distant attendant, "Send for Ashtare."

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Chichiri made his first stop the palace. As he suspected, his imposter had taken sick and stayed in bed for a few days. It was funny to see the ministers fussing about the bed occupied by the three dimensional image. In truth, it wasn't hard to imitate an illness. Since sleep was the best medicine, the imposter just pretended to sleep most of the day away. Still, he didn't want the kingdom to fear that Hotohori was gravely ill, so he would have to heal the fake Emperor and find something else to do that would occupy a great deal of time and keep him away from important decisions. Hmm… meditation or prayer and fasting. Why not both! It was no trouble to reinitialize the sutra that he used to create the three dimensional image and he was on his way in moments.

His next stop was to visit Hotohori. He knew that with all the questions he had for Taiitsukun, he might be there a long time. He needed to get these other errands out of the way so he could return to Mia as soon as possible.

He located Hotohori and the others wandering about the country side. There two new warriors that he had not met. One was a shorter, red-headed man, and the other was a tall, older gentleman. Luckily Miaka was no longer riding with his Highness, so it would be easier to get his attention. Chichiri stood behind a grove of trees and closed his eyes in a chant. A small bird flew down towards the regal person of Hotohori and landed gently on the shoulder of the beautiful man. None of the others seemed to notice, so he spoke softly through the bird. "Your Highness, I need to update you on the happenings with the other quest. If you could possibly stop for a break, I will await you by the stream to your north, you know." A slight nod acknowledged the message.

It was only moments later that the Emperor called a halt for the band of travelers. He used the excuse that Miaka needed to rest after having suffered such a debilitating illness. Just the thought of the previous days made the young ruler shudder. Hotohori excused himself stating that he needed to stretch his legs and headed for the little stream to the north. In a small clearing he found Chichiri crouched beside the swift moving water, gazing vacantly into the reflective surface.

The troubled look fled from the blue-haired wizard's pensive face as he turned towards the approaching emperor, "Your Highness. I'm reporting as you requested."

A deep frown of concern crossed the porcelain face of Hotohori. "Chichiri? Why are you reporting in person? I thought you were able to communicate over great distances as you did before with an illusion?" Chichiri shifted his position beside the stream and sat facing the young ruler. "Well, about that, some developments have made that type of communication a bit dangerous."

With a gasp, the regal young man folded himself up to sit beside Chichiri. A concerned hand grasped the blue haired warrior. His voice was tight, "What has happened? What types of developments?"

Chichiri removed his army issue helmet and ran a nervous hand through his blue locks. The gravity defying bangs sprung back up to wave to the world, "It seems that General Nakago is aware of our presence in Hokkan, and has set traps and sent forces to hinder our progress, you know. But so far Mia has handled the traps, and we are maintaining our distance in front of the troops. Luckily he doesn't seem to know who we are yet, you know."

His agitation mounting, Hotohori looked sternly at the older man and stated, "This is unacceptable. Why have you not kept her safe? She shouldn't have to handle anything! That is why you and the Lieutenant are accompanying her!" In an unconscious manner, the emperor gripped the hilt of his sword.

Chichiri blanched at the anger coming his way and raised his hands, palms outward, to ward off any perceived attack. His mask reverted to his fake, innocent smile as he explained, "Well, your Highness, she is as prone to finding trouble as Miaka is, you know."

Hotohori relaxed a bit and huffed at this comment. His mind struggled with the horrible incidents from the past few days when he had nearly slain the brave young girl to save her from the horrible disease that wracked her body. It was true, trouble seemed to dog the girl's every footstep. Why would it have changed as she aged? If anything, the trait seemed to have worsened. He took a moment to gather his thoughts and reflect on the horrors the older Mia had survived. Nothing that happened in this world could compare to the sacrifices she had made for this quest. He closed his eyes and continued the interview in a calmer voice, "What has happened?"

With the air of a master story teller, Chichiri folded his hands together and began to recount their journey. "Well, first we encountered Taiitsukun who seemed prepared to delay us. Mia countered the energy with holy lightning from Suzaku and Taiitsukun departed. It was odd, you know? Priestesses aren't supposed to be able to do such things." He paused a moment as the image of a fierce and indignant Mia yelling at Taiitsukun replayed in his head.

Hotohori usually didn't interrupt a speaker when they were recounting a tale, but it seemed that warrior needed a bit of a nudge to return him to the present. So, the emperor asked the first question that came to mind. "I wouldn't see why not. Isn't it the very same power that all Suzaku warriors can call upon when they are protecting their Priestess?"

Startled out of his daydream, Chichiri's eyes refocused on his liege and pondered this question. "True. I intend to ask Taiitsukun about that when I travel to see her later. But the troubling event was when Mia detected a storm approaching that was being influenced by one of the Seiryu Seven. Right after that, Nakago's aura was detected, and Mia dispelled that also. It seems that Nakago knows of our presence since he destroyed a spy we found and were interrogating. I just don't know what to think, you know?" Insecurity did not sit well with the wizard, and he grew even more determined to figure out this mystery.

With what seemed to be the end of the report, Hotohori asked another leading question, hoping to get more information on the progress of the older priestess. "But has she retrieved the Shinzaho that she needed?" That was the most important goal. All the rest was merely incidental. If Mia couldn't retrieve the Shinzaho, she would not be able to restore her world and life.

Chichiri leaned over and dangled a finger into the cool stream as he remembered the scene in the cave tomb. "Yes, she succeeded but it nearly cost her life! I'm not truly sure what transpired, but we thought for sure she had passed away. Then suddenly, she broke the ice encasing her with another blast of holy fire, and the guardians allowed her to take the Shinzaho."

The sound of a couple fussing over something insignificant reached their ears and Hotohori glanced back at his traveling companions to determine if any had seen his interactions with Chichiri. Tasuki's harsh voice echoed around the clearing with a boast and a threat. As a precaution, the blue haired warrior donned his helmet to hide his identity. It wouldn't do for anyone of the other warriors to wonder why he was not at the palace where they had left him.

After determining their presence had gone undetected, Hotohori let out a deep breath and whispered, "That is a relief. Now what is the column's current status?"

Chichiri straightened and uncurled his body to stand before his emperor. In a business-like voice he reported, "There is an army of 100 men following us through the mountains and 50 or so more somewhere along the border of Konan and Hokkan. Nakago has blockaded the lower mountain pass and we are galloping hard to reach the westerly pass before it can also be closed. We should be through sometime tomorrow." Just the thought of traveling in the mountains made the warrior suddenly appreciate the crisp warmth of the early summer day that surrounded him. Guilt tugged at his heart as he knew Mia would give just about anything to be warm at this moment. She may have stopped openly complaining about being 'colder than a popsicle' but her movements betrayed her indifferent attitude.

With a hand thoughtfully toying with a lock of his luscious hair, Hotohori paced back and forth deep in thought. He was, after all, first and foremost a military tactician. So, it was only natural for him to think in terms of troop movements and risk analysis. "Perhaps I should commission another regiment to leave the palace and rendez-vous with you at the border? If there is any danger of a skirmish, you must make sure to remove Mia from harm's way. I have full confidence in Lieutenant Kanai and his men to survive a battle with such high odds, but we can not risk her life." After issuing his orders, it was only then that he realized there was a deep, uncharacteristic frown on his friend's face. "Is there anything else? You seem troubled."

Chichiri was unsure how to address this next issue, so he simply blurted out what was bothering him. "Well, actually, there is. We have had two visits by Suzaku himself into our camp." The uncomfortable silence that stretched out between them was only broken by the sounds of the birds in the trees and the good-natured bickering and joking from the camp.

When he felt safe to continue speaking, Hotohori's voice was quiet and reverent. "How is that possible? The great beast gods cannot be seen until they are summoned by their Priestess? We have not even attempted such a ceremony!"

Now it was Chichiri's turn to pace a bit, although, he didn't have any long, luscious hair to amuse himself with. "I know. But you have to remember that Mia has already summoned him in her past. Maybe there is something going on that we don't understand. That is one of the reasons I desperately need to confer with Taiitsukun. If anyone would know what is happening, it would be her." Chichiri had a list of questions for the old, grizzled wizard, and the list just seemed to get longer every time he turned around.

With a curt nod, Hotohori turned to begin his walk back to his traveling companions. "That sounds like a good plan. Keep me informed on anything Taiitsukun may impart. Is there anything else?"

At this point, the disguised warrior looked truly uncomfortable. He knew the next part would not go over well with this man who openly admitted to loving the Priestess of Suzaku, no matter what her age. "Actually, in his last visit, Suzaku told us that Mia is ill and his powers are keeping it at bay. The more she uses his powers, the more likely she will die before he can restore her."

The look that crossed the beautiful emperor's face was fierce and determined. "Then we must ensure that she is not overusing her powers. It would be tragic if her quest ended before she could complete it. She has sacrificed so much already just for this single opportunity. I would hate to know that our sweet innocent Miaka is destined for such a horrible, broken future. You will keep a strict eye on her condition, and if it worsens, you are to return her to my palace. If need be, we will continue her quest for the second Shinzaho for her."

"Your highness, do you think that is wise? If Mia were at the palace, there would be more chance of her encountering her younger self. Who knows what the ramifications would be for the two to meet." Just the thought of the destruction two Miakas could cause made the wizard shiver. Not even his advanced training and knowledge could prepare him for that eventuality. If it hurt Mia to change her past in the small increments that she had so far, how much worse would it be to have an actual impact on her younger self?

Hotohori seemed to be thinking along the same lines as a shudder ran down his spine. "We will just have to take that risk if the situation worsens. Possibly Taiitsukun can advise you on what to expect and what options might be available." A loud laugh rang though the clearing. Chichiri looked back at the group of Suzaku warriors hovering over the young Miaka. "What has happened on your quest since my last report? We saw you battle zombies, and the fire bearing warrior appeared. After that, the image disappeared."

Hotohori's face pulled into a drawn mask of pain. "As you can see, we located the sixth Suzaku warrior, the healer Mitsukake. There was a deadly plague in the town we visited, and Miaka was struck down. A fake healer promised to bring her back from the dead if she was not cured and I almost took her life to spare her the agony. Luckily, we were able to convince Mitsukake to accompany us and he was able to use his powers to heal her." He looked lovingly at the young girl resting in the glade behind him and sighed, "She is still weak, but she is unwilling to delay our search in order to rest properly."

Chichiri nodded in understanding and empathized, "A trait that she still possesses in her older self." When someone from the group called out to the emperor, Chichiri bowed slightly and donned his grinning mask, "Well, that's my cue to disappear, you know. Wouldn't want to have to explain where a soldier suddenly appeared from. God speed, your highness, and I'll contact you with any information that I might receive from Taiitsukun." And with a flourish of his previously hidden cape, the wizard stepped into a hole in the shrubbery and vanished from sight.

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AN: I PASSED THE BAR!! I'M OFFICIALLY A LAWYER! Woohoo! Happy dance all around!

Please review, it motivates me to write more...

Thank you to Ayriel who noticed I accidentally had Tamahome in the group in the clearing. All I can say is "oops."


	13. Chapter 13 Western Pass

Mia woke from a horrible nightmare. The sweat dripped from her neck as she swam out of the visions of Arnold Schwarzenegger as the Terminator™© chased her around an abandoned warehouse. He was still in his human form, which was infinitely more frightening than the red-eyed, metal version. She remembered struggling to climb up the rungs of a metal ladder while the looming figure reached for her scrambling legs. Then, she sprinted through the complex, expecting him to leap out from any direction and obliterate her.

Needless to say, it was not a sound, quality sleep she woke from. Around her, the men rested in odd positions. The tent had not been erected and the men had simply huddled about the tiny fire for warmth. If sleep overtook them during their short stop, the men simply slept where they fell. Mia was the only one that a pallet had been prepared for. Deguchi, the gentle giant, had made sure she was well covered to protect her from the harsh winter night air. He had even used his incredible size as a wind break as he huddled close behind her.

Mia appreciated all the effort her friends went to, and really didn't want to complain. Still, she could barely sleep with the painful cold seeping into her bones. She had heard that hypothermia left you feeling numb, then warm as the nerves shut down. Unfortunately, she never quite got to that point. Her friends and her layers of clothing kept her just warm enough that her nerve endings constantly registered the cold and their discomfort. No matter how tight a ball she curled up into, she couldn't get her hands and feet in a position to share her core's body heat. In a moment of desperation, she entertained the idea of thrusting her feet into the fire pit to earn just a moments respite from the aching cold.

She groaned as she glanced to the East to see just the barest hint of a brightening sky. 'Crap, crap, crap! That means Slave-Driver Kanai will soon be making us leave!' It was bad when she sounded like a whiner to her own self. She glanced around and was shocked to realize Chichiri had still not returned. She had thought for sure he would be here when she woke. What could be taking him so long? Maybe there was a problem with the illusionary emperor? Or, maybe there was a problem with the real Hotohori. In her mind she envisioned what the other group was doing. They should have been wandering around looking for the last warrior.

She frowned deeply thinking about the deception that was about to play itself out again. Hopefully, Hotohori took heed to her previous warning about the "flute player" and didn't trust him like she had the first time around. Even in her world, she couldn't hear a flute without shuddering. Still, Amiboshi had been such a sweet young man when he wasn't trying to control and kill her friends.

The sound of leather creaking and fabric swishing against fabric alerted her of the movements of some soldier in camp. That and the echoing yawn that split the man's face split the morning quiet. Some thumping was heard followed immediately by masculine grumbling. Obviously the one up was kicking his comrades awake. All Mia could do was groan and resign herself to another day of miserable riding at break-neck speeds. She viciously tossed the blankets that had kept her from freezing solid off to the side as she rose from her pallet. 'Might as well just get up. Not like I could sleep in this cold. I don't think I'll ever be warm again!'

With the knowledge that the column would reach the western pass sometime today, the men rose in better spirits. It was always better getting to the problem rather than just dreading what may come. They would either encounter resistance at the pass, or not. It would either be a direct assault or an ambush. If they encountered no one, they would count their blessings. If they did encounter the enemy, they would enjoy getting to actually fight. Either way, it shaped up to be a good day.

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Taiitsukun had driven Chichiri nuts all night with inane questions and riddles. She had forced him to meditate for hours, stating he had been lax in his training, and his energies were tainted. The old hag wouldn't answer anything with a straight answer. Chichiri felt like she knew exactly what was happening and why, but was unwilling to tell him. He had not meant to stay so long, but he was determined to get some answers! Once he had finished meditating, she tested him on all sorts of charms and spells as if she were considering taking him as an apprentice again.

The short old wizard floated effortlessly above Chichiri's sweating body as morning broke over the mountains. The adorable assistants that looked like cherubs zipped about watering plants and tending injured fairies. One assistant nudged Taiitsukun and whined, "Taiitsukun should tell what she knows." Another suddenly appeared to chime in her opinion, "It could get ugly if no one helps her." A third assistant flew in to buzz around the gray head and sang, "The beast god will be angered if you interfere."

A growling came from behind the cute floating assistants then the wizened old voice shouted, "ENOUGH! Get away from me!" The assistants scattered like leaves on a wind. Taiitsukun continued grumbling under her voice about annoying assistants, and how you couldn't get good help anymore.

Chichiri moved to stand respectfully before his teacher and bowed deeply at the waist. As he stayed with his face directed to the floor, he asked his questions again, "Taiitsukun, I'm sure you know why I am here. You saw how the Lady Mia countered your attack a few days ago with a power similar to Suzaku's holy light. I need to know how this is possible since Suzaku has not been summoned in this world. Also, Suzaku has visited our camp twice now and this is contrary to everything I was trained to believe possible. You taught me that the beast gods could not visit our mortal plain without first being summoned. Please, any help you could give me would be invaluable."

The old woman descended until she was standing on the ground before the blue-haired warrior. A tired, long-suffering sign escaped her wrinkled face. She reached out a hand and lifted Chichiri from his stooped position. "There is much I know, but little I can share with you. The course of this world has been upset by the presence of the older Miaka, and I must do all I can to minimize the disruption. It would be best for all if the older Priestess ceased to exist in this world."

Chichiri's eyes sharpened with anger and doubt at what he was hearing. "You mean, she should die? How can you say such a thing? She has survived incredible hardship to get here. You would just let her die here and not lift a finger to help?"

The old woman stared down at the floor and tried again to explain the position she was in. "You don't understand. Not only will I not lift a finger to help her, but I must strive to remove her from this world."

The young man stared aghast at the one he had held the highest regard for in his life. This couldn't be happening. "But, why? She is not hurting anyone. She is trying to restore her world and offer her warriors a chance to travel to her world after our usefulness to this one is finished. How does this warrant her being sentenced to death?"

The old woman began pacing as she tried to explain, "You don't understand anything! She IS hurting someone; several people, in fact. She is changing the course of history and destroying the future of countless generations. Not only that, but her presence and influence are affecting Suzaku himself." Taiitsukun wandered over to a great table surrounded by mirrors and waved her hand before the largest. Images of the four beast gods in their celestial home wavered just beyond the surface. The blue, white and green gods seemed distant and preoccupied with whatever gods do. The fourth, the red and gold Suzaku sat isolated and deep in thought.

Taiitsukun continued ranting about things Chichiri only vaguely understood. "It should not have been possible for the older Miaka to traverse the chasm between worlds. Her path was blockaded ages ago after her quest in this world was complete, and she had summoned Suzaku. Only someone like myself or the beast gods could have assisted her in crossing over. It is impossible for a mere mortal. And on top of that, she has changed him somehow." Chichiri frowned for a moment until he realized the "him" she was talking about was Suzaku himself.

"Gods are not supposed to get personally involved in this life. They are objects to be revered and offer hope to the common people of these lands. There is no telling the chaos that would ensue if someone of such incredible power and so little experience with human nature were to decide to tamper with the fate of people. That is why the Priestesses that summon the gods are the ones to wield that power. They understand the fragility of human life where the beast gods do not."

Chichiri's frown deepened as he remembered something, "But Taiitsukun, you are the creator of the scrolls of the Universe of the Four Gods. You wield incredible powers. You control fate and test the Priestesses. Aren't you doing the VERY THING you do not want the beast gods do to?"

This question got an angry rise out of the wrinkled old wizard. She spun on the young man with a snarl, "You fool! How dare you accuse me of tampering with the fabric of this world. I CREATED THIS WORLD! I have lived for ages, nurturing these humans, and guarding their lives and dreams. I would rather exile myself to a life of nothingness than watch this world be damaged by four immature, power hungry 'gods.' They are mere children compared to me. They have no understanding of life and could wipe out entire continents with a mere temper tantrum!" About them, the peaceful mountain air was ripped by gale force winds as the weather mirrored the emotions of the diminutive sage.

Chichiri raised his arm to shield his eyes from the blowing debris and sand that tried to blind him. For a moment, the image of Taiitsukun seemed to shift and the wrinkled old sage transformed for only an instant into a brilliantly beautiful man wearing white and green. The blue-haired wizard had heard vague stories about the Jade Emperor, the grandfather of the gods, and had to wonder if he could trust his own tear filled eyes.

The gale force winds died and the mountain returned to its former peaceful state. Taiitsukun still looked like a wrinkled old sage. She turned to him and spoke as if to a child, "Chichiri, I know you think you are doing what is best, but you only see what is in front of you. There is so much more going on than what you are aware. The presence of the older Priestess has attracted the attention of the beast god Suzaku and caused him to take an unprecedented interest in the mortal world. Of the four beast gods, he is the most reasonable and caring; still, he is not set to develop any such concerns for several centuries. His involvement must be halted or he risks destroying the very thing that has piqued his interest."

Chichiri bowed his head as he digested this information. Taiitsukun talked like the beast gods were small children. Small children that had found a bug interesting, and were going to kill the bug by playing with it too harshly in their ignorance. Strangely enough, she also spoke of the gods like they were HER children. Was that possible? He had always wondered how she knew so much about this world, and the magic of such things. Maybe she knew, because it was she who instilled those traits in the foundation of this world?

His voice was quiet and sad as he commented, "You may be too late, Taiitsukun. The last visit we received from Suzaku, he healed Lady Mia, and commissioned several of the accompanying soldiers to help protect her. He charged us personally with her protection and commanded we call on him if she weakens. He said that he had loaned her his powers that were sustaining her on this quest. He also claimed that she belonged to him." Chichiri stopped a moment and remembered the loving looks that the Phoenix god had cast towards the sleeping Mia. Was it possible? "In truth, from watching their interactions, I would hazard a guess that Suzaku harbors some deep affection for the older Priestess."

The storm of fury that Chichiri expected from his statement did not appear. Instead, Taiitsukun seemed to shrink in on herself in defeat. "It is as I feared when I tested her in the mountains. While I was proud to see she was so determined and focused, I had not yet learned of Suzaku's involvement with her quest. This places me in a terrible position. If I do nothing, Mia will die, and Suzaku will most likely exact his revenge in a terrible manner against the mortals of this world. If I dispatch her myself, he will rebel against my rule and we shall have a war to end all wars. If I assist in keeping her alive, Suzaku will continue on this path which will tear the fabric of our world apart."

She walked back to the rug where Chichiri sat, waiting for her assistance. She stiffened her spine with resolve and barked at the young wizard. "You need to return to your companions if you wish to save this priestess from being slaughtered. Lord Nakago is getting more serious in his attempts to discover her identity. I will do what I can to keep the beast gods in line, but the events that have already been set in motion will simply have to play themselves out. I will neither hinder nor help this quest. It is up to you and the older Priestess to succeed. Now go! I'm tired of looking at you!"

With a simply wave of her hand, Taiitsukun transported Chichiri hundreds of miles away from her mountain, out into the vast wasteland that surrounded her home. He stumbled at the unsettled feeling of displacement, and then began to work his own magic to return him to his galloping comrades.

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The western pass was piled deep with mounds of snow. A layer of ice had formed on the top of the snow that had to be broken with every step. The drifts on some areas were deep enough to tickle the horses' bellies. The longer legged men had to lift their legs to keep from dragging in the stuff. Mia made sure her painfully cold feet never came close to the surface of the frozen snow.

It was late in the afternoon as the column of soldiers neared the crest of the pass. On either side of them, the imposing mountains climbed away as if to touch the very sky. Everything was so blindingly white that it took on a bluish tint.

The nerves of the soldiers were stretched as taut as possible, prepared for an ambush or full frontal assault. Each step that the horses took that nothing happened only made the dread even worse. The snow was still pristine before them, leaving no hints of any other being having traveled that way. Was it possible that they had outrun their pursuers?

Mia surely hoped so. It would be so much better to reach the other side of the mountain before the enemy descended on them. It was not good to fight a pitched battle against a greater number in such a small space. Although, it would even the odds, since they couldn't get their overwhelming force into the tight pass. Still, she got a strange, tickly feeling on the back of her neck that had nothing to do with the cold, or the discomfort caused by her helmet. Her eyes scanned the craggy mountain sides as she searched for anything out of place. It would be so simple to station an archer in a hollow up the mountain, and rain death down upon them.

Lieutenant Kanai stationed the archers on either side of the column, flanking Mia and Chichiri's horse. She really wished her warrior would return, simply to have his comforting presence near in all this anxiety. Though at the same time, she was glad he would miss any fighting that might put him in danger. He was awesome against magical attacks, but she had never really assessed his skill against swords and pikes.

Suddenly, Tank shifted uncomfortably to a stop and snorted great plumes of fog out of his massive nose. His sensitive ears flexed about listening to sounds too faint for Mia to hear. Then, he began dancing anxiously sideways as if desiring to sprint away from some hidden danger. It was all Mia could do to hold onto the great horse as it acted uncharacteristically out of distress. Her rudimentary knowledge of horsemanship was not enough to stop the animal from spinning in a tight circle as it looked for the source of its fear.

From the rear of the column, a shout of distress, then pain, filled the air and alerted the front guard of trouble. In a flash, a large, brown and green blur streaked through the column, accompanied by pained cries of both man and horse. Shouts of warning sounded all up and down the group as the horses spooked and began thrashing about to get away from the danger in their midst. Tank literally leapt upwards and sideways to the right about three feet and unseated Mia in her surprise. She reached for a handful of the course gray mane as her right foot came out of the stirrup, and her body shifted too far over to the left. Her center of gravity shifted past her left leg and only the mane kept her from landing in the snow like a dead duck.

It took every ounce of strength she possessed to pull herself back into the saddle. She shifted her askew helmet back to its rightful position just in time to see the blur come to a skidding halt ten feet past the front guard in a flurry of snow and blood. In that split second of recognition, Mia wished her helmet was still on sideways. Her blood ran cold as she looked on at the killer of her friend. The feral gleam and glinting fangs would never fade from her memory. Ashtare stood sneering at the column of soldiers with blood dripping off his misshapen claws.

Mia's mind shifted into gear after the moment of shock as she realized, if there was blood on his claws, it had to come from somewhere. And that somewhere had to be either the soldiers or their mounts. She pivoted in her saddle to look at the state of her friends. There were at least two men laying face down in the snow with a spreading stain of red beneath them. Four horses had been cut out from under their riders and the great animals were thrashing about on their sides in pain. Her eyes landed on Lieutenant Kanai, who was standing on the ground, up to his hips in a snow drift, apparently one of the men who had their horses attacked. Beyond him, the archer Uno was trying to reach the Lieutenant to help him mount behind him.

Mia turned to her right to look for Furitani as she shouted, "Archers! Shoot him! Don't give him a chance to get close again! Shoot him!" It might not have been the smartest thing, to use her obviously feminine voice to yell orders, but no one else seemed to understand the danger they were all in as well as she did. This beast managed to kill Nuriko, the strongest Suzaku warrior of them all! There was no way a simple soldier could stand against such monstrous strength with a sword!

The glowing, feral eyes turned to the source of the command and noticed the small form that had seemed insignificant earlier. He had attacked the center of the group, assuming that the commanders were stationed there. From the shouts of one of the bigger men that he had placed on the ground, he was sure he had made the correct choice. Now, it seemed there was another leader that he had missed. There was no way he would return to Nakago without destroying this entire troop of soldiers. As far as he knew, someone in this group housed incredible power, and he didn't want to allow anyone enough time to strike against him.

The two archers each got two arrows off in rapid succession towards the wolf man before it launched into their midst with claws flashing. Mia watched in sick fascination as the monster cut a straight path towards her. Morishita, the long legged man in the front guard was cut almost in two as he maneuvered his horse to intercept the wild attacker. Then, as Ashtare drew closer, she saw Yamane, who was horseless, slam his body into the hurtling monster's side in a maneuver that reminded her of a Western football tackle. Neither man even slowed the destructive Seiryu warrior.

Suddenly, the big man, Deguchi was standing between her and her doom and he turned slightly to slap a giant hand against Tank's quivering rump. In a bolt of energy, Mia almost came unseated again as the great gray gelding launched into a full out gallop past the approaching enemy that was traveling to fast to change directions to follow her. She never saw the gentle giant that had protected her so many times throw himself at the growling mass of claws and fangs.

Tank was not traveling in any gait she had experienced so far in this trip. He was running in sheer terror. Again, her grasp of his mane was the only thing that kept her from kissing the ground several more times. In the back of her mind, she lamented the fact that Konan saddles didn't have anything to hold onto. There was no way she could turn to see if her friends were okay, or if that monster was chasing her. She expected to feel those horrible claws slice through the skin of her back at any second.

Fear gave her the strength to remain in the saddle and she tried to make notice of her surroundings. The pass hugged the mountain on the left, while the mountain on the right seemed to drop off into darkening canyons and crevasses. This was not the place to get ambushed. The path was only wide enough to let four horses ride side by side at the smallest points.

A loud shout came from behind her that could only be from the Lieutenant. His voice carried a warning and she heard a vicious growl sound even closer behind her. "Oh, God! It's right behind me!" If there was any way to mentally send strength to the grey gelding, she was surely doing that at the moment.

The Seiryu warrior shot past them on the left side of Tank. The war horse instinctively shifted away from the danger and closer to the edge of the drop off to the right of the path. It took a moment for the hot, lancing pain to register in her brain that shot through her left leg. Both Tank and Ashtare shifted their weight to stop their forward movement. Snow plowed up in front of both of them like the wake of a motorboat as both animals slid to a stop.

Mia took just a moment to look down at her left leg to see the blood flowing heavily down her calf into her boot. Four even claw marks were scored into the back of her leg just below her knee. If Tank had not shifted over to his right, she would have lost the limb completely. It looked like the monster had aimed to carve the warhorses flank open in his pass.

Before her, the evil wolf man straightened a bit and licked his eerie claws to taste her blood. The movement disgusted her like nothing she had ever seen before, and she had seen plenty. The vile creature seemed to actually take pleasure in killing and maiming.

Behind her, Mia could hear the shouts of the approaching soldiers who were still uninjured and mounted. Lieutenant Kanai's voice shouted at the archers to "Kill that bastard!" So, Mia guessed that the two archers had escaped the two passes of Ashtare through their ranks unscathed. She also could make out the voice of Eguchi, the ninja healer in their group yelling some type of directions for her to avoid the next lunge from the Seiryu warrior. But the echo from the mountains made it impossible to hear his instructions.

She tried to think of some way out of this predicament, or some way to stall the killer before her until the archers could get within range. But, that moment of planning was taken away as a feral growl accompanied the leap of the monster before her. Tank did the only thing he was trained for in such a dire situation. He reared up on his hind legs to get his rider out of range, and to strike with his powerful forelegs. If they connected, the metal shoes the size of pie pans could easily kill the toughest opponent.

Terror gripped Mia since she had never sat on a rearing horse before. Gravity, ever her enemy on this trip, decided to smite her again. She heard and felt a loud pop, and then she was sliding, along with the saddle, right down Tank's broad back. The handful of mane that had saved her so recently, failed her in this instant. She pulled the clump of hair out by the roots, and slid off her mount's rump along with the saddle. Apparently, when Ashtare had nearly cleaved her leg off, his claws had nicked the girth of the saddle, and it snapped under the strain.

Although, Tank's move to the right of the path had saved her leg from being amputated, it unfortunately placed them too close to the edge of the drop off. When she hit the snow, still seated on the saddle, the leather acted like a sled on the down slope, and slid her right over the edge of the path into the waiting abyss below. As gravity carried her quickly away from her friends, her only thought was that this was a terrible way to end her quest. Her mind cried, 'I'm sorry Tamahome, Hikari.' Darkness swallowed her as she struck the first of many evergreen trees on her plummet down the side of the mountain.


	14. Chapter 14 Going Down

Lieutenant Kanai watched with sickening horror as Lady Mia slid off her mount and disappeared over the edge of the pass trail. His shout of warning could not have prevented the equipment failure. He was mounted behind the Assistant Suitani as they galloped to intercept the enemy in their midst.

In the back of his mind, Kanai was already mourning the loss of at least three men and maybe as many as five. His mind flew from strategy to strategy searching for a way to keep the death toll from this encounter from rising. This "thing" was obviously a killing machine; pure and simply. Even the three arrows that protruded from its body seemed to have no effect.

Beside him, the two archers, the second sumo wrestler sized warrior and the double-edged ax wielding Kajihara, thundered down the trail to aid the rider-less war horse. Their goal was not only to destroy this threat, but to prevent the creature from following Mia over the side of the ravine. There was some hope that the feisty woman could survive the descent down the mountain, and they were determined to give her every chance to be rescued. After seeing the destruction caused by the two lightning swift passes through their column, it was certain that Mia would perish if they didn't stop this juggernaut of death.

Tank still stood up on his rear legs and lashed out in a defensive maneuver. One enormous metal shoe made contact with the claws of the raging beast and sparks showered the snow. The gray gelding held his ground as if he knew he prevented this danger from pursuing his Mistress.

Finally the other soldiers were within range and swords and arrows flew about the pass. Loud clangs and whinnying echoed in the small space as the battle rolled down the pass trail. With shouts and anger, the warriors pushed the evil creature farther away from the site where their friend had fallen.

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Chichiri had cast his spell to return him to the back of his horse, which he assumed would be galloping at break-neck speeds towards the Western Pass. As such, he was braced to go from stationary to moving in the blink of an eye when he rematerialized. But to his shock and confusion, he found himself sitting on an unmoving horse. A quick scan of his surroundings revealed Eguchi, the ninja healer, bent over the bleeding forms of several soldiers. Scattered about were also the dead and dying mounts of other warriors from the column. A sick feeling of dread settled in the wizard's stomach as he remembered Taiitsukun's words. "You need to return to your companions if you wish to save this priestess from being slaughtered."

Chichiri spied Yamane who struggled to rise and demanded, "Where is Mia?!" in a strained voice. Eguchi answered for the disoriented soldier and pointed further down the pass trail. "The Seiryu beast chased her down the trail." Chichiri's eyes left the pools of red stained snow under the downed men and snapped towards the trail to see the distant figures of the column in a pitched battle. The mental image that Chichiri had created of Nakago's beast warrior from Mia's tales chilled him to his spine as he spurred his horse in that direction.

Sweat broke out on Chichiri's face as he urged his mount onward. This was the horrible creature that had defeated and killed Noriko in Mia's past. How was the slight girl supposed to defend herself against such brutish strength? The sounds of battle grew louder as he neared the commotion and he scanned the shapes for the smallest soldier, who should be Mia. She had groused about looking like a twelve year old boy, but in this instance, that would help him locate her.

The problem became clear when Chichiri realized, none of the battling shapes looked like a boy. They all were obviously seasoned, hardened soldiers. Lieutenant Kanai struggled to direct his forces in a manner to defeat Ashtare without exposing them to further casualties. The six men and five horses struggled to stay together. It was then that Chichiri noticed there was actually a sixth horse; Miaka's great gray gelding who was minus a petite rider or even a saddle.

Chichiri galloped up and shouted, "Where is Mia?" without even thinking about giving this information to one of Nakago's underlings. It didn't matter who knew her name as long as she was safe! No one could take the breath or time to respond. Any little distraction in the face of the whirling and gnashing claws and fangs would spell death for the soldiers. In a fit of frustration, Chichiri raised his hand in a prayer motion and expelled the strongest repulsing spell in his repertoire. The enormous shock wave ripped through the group and hurled the Seiryu beast against the mountain side with such force as to bury the monster six feet into the rock formation. Snow and debris tumbled down the mountain face and buried the creature from sight.

After a brief moment of shock, Chichiri again yelled, "Where is Mia?!" Assistant Suitani supported Kanai with one of the Lieutenant's arms over his shoulder. Both men turned to face the wizard and Kanai barked, "She went over the edge!" Chichiri's normally calm voice almost shrieked as he shouted, "What?!"

Chichiri turned to scan the edge of the trail. It only took him a moment to see the area where the snow was disturbed by horse hooves and blood. He questioned and pointed, "There?" Suitani grunted an affirmative as he leveraged the Lieutenant up onto the back of one of the surviving mounts. Of the remaining men, only six were uninjured and Chichiri had no idea if any were good at tracking.

Kanai seemed to have read the blue-haired warrior's thoughts as he started hollering orders. "Eguchi! Kajihara! Uno! You will accompany Assistant Suitani and Warrior Chichiri to retrieve Lady Mia! Ishiyama! Furutani! Tend to the injured and dispatch the critically wounded horses. Keep alert! This could be another ambush. Time is of the essence! We need to depart before the trailing force catches up to us. You have your orders! Move!"

With that, the ninja healer sprinted over to the area where they had last seen Mia, and leapt down the slope. Blood dotted the landscape as the group of five descended; admittedly, at a much slower rate than the one they followed had descended. In the back of Chichiri's mind he kept chanting, 'Let her be safe. Let her be safe. Let her be safe." Even though, he couldn't really believe that someone could fall off a cliff and "be safe." He simply hoped there were no other Seiryu warriors waiting in the wings to catch her after her fall.

The group of trackers had only been rolling down the snow slopes for a few hundred feet when they found the first evidence of Mia's collision with a tree. The little sapling was twisted and stripped bare of any branches on one side where she had rolled over the little tree. Luckily, it was small enough that it had given with the impact instead of being an immovable object. Though, they were all sure she would have some serious scrapes and bumps from the ride.

The snow beneath them was mostly torn up with still only traces of blood which indicated she had slid or tumbled down the slope, instead of going airborne. A few more hundred feet down the slope, they found the resting place of the mangled saddle. It had veered off to the side after the impact with the first tree apparently separated her from the slab of leather. None of the soldiers did more than give it a passing glance as they each realized, in their own heads, that it would never carry a passenger again. It was obvious from the twists and bends that the tree of the saddle had been shattered, and it was now simply junk.

The sun slipped lower in the sky and turned the deep ravines and crevasses in the mountain a deep, foreboding black. Each took turns looking up and searching as far as their eyesight could see for a glimpse of a brown uniform and an orange scarf. If they didn't find her soon, the light would fade and their chances of rescuing her would fade with it.

Above them, in the distance, the rescue squad heard a deep rumbling, followed by an explosion. The experienced mountaineers immediately thought, 'Avalanche!' A new sense of urgency and dread filled the men as they pushed themselves harder; into an almost free-fall speed. Chichiri found it almost impossible to keep pace with the soldiers.

It was a few moments later when the men realized what they heard had not been an avalanche. Instead, they felt the evil presence of a force behind them and slowed only enough to look around. Above them on the slopes was a green and brown blur moving in their direction. In utter disbelief, the men braced themselves and readied their weapons as they realized that Ashtare was descending on them like a meteor with fangs.

Just before reaching the band of soldiers, the careening beast skated a bit to the right, and slid around the group and continued on with a snarling sneer. Chichiri shouted, "He's going after Mia!" There was no way the column could reach her before that brute tracked her. She would be vulnerable. She would be shredded! Chichiri chanted another transportation spell and vanished into a passing shadow.

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The hushed quiet was strange and annoying. Her ears rang from the lack of sound. Even her own breathing seemed to be muffled by the sound stealing snow. Realization dawned on her slowly as she became aware of her surroundings and her body. There was a distant, burning pain throughout her entire being, but her mind seemed to only be able to grasp that her face was half buried in fluffy, innocent snow. The evil white stuff was even partially packed up one nostril which made breathing rather difficult. But, actually, she wasn't just breathing, she panted like a dog on a hot sidewalk in summer.

Behind her, a sweet, song echoed in her newly discovered reality and her dazed mind identified this new addition as a bird. Piece by piece, her thoughts processed this date. Snow; bird; hush. She was outside in a snowy forest.

With a Herculean effort, she attempted to pry one snow crusted eyelid open. What greeted her were the feathery, soft green branches of a small cedar tree. A trivial fact snapped to life in her brain. 'Cedar trees are pioneer plants that grow in inhospitable climates or in clearings.' She felt sorry for the poor little tree. She knew that with the increase in leafy hardwoods, the shade from the other trees would kill this sweet, lacy tree.

She tried to turn her head to look closer at her neighbor the tree when all thoughts of flora and fauna were driven out of her head by a searing pain that split her skull. The movement tore a scream from her lips that was caught and muffled by the evil snow. Blood tainted the snow just under her face where it had leaked out of her mouth and cracked lips.

She returned to her previous resting spot and prayed that the pain would recede back to the low ebb it had been before her ill-advised attempt to move. Her mind frantically tried to remember what had led her here. Flashes of red and blurry images of people were all that came to her. With those snippets of memory, a feeling of urgency and dread arose as well.

The face of Chichiri flashed before her eyes and she remembered that he had been gone from their troop for too long. She remembered the quest, and then the enemy that was chasing them through the mountains. She wanted to shake her head to clear her thoughts, but her experience with movement prevented her from doing so. Where were the others? What had happened to leave her alone in the snow in the woods? She couldn't even hear anything that resembled her new friends and traveling companions.

As thoughts came faster and clearer, she remembered the terror of the animal that had intercepted them in the Western Pass of the mountain range. Ashtare! He had to still be back there with the soldiers! He would tear them to shreds! How had she been transported away from the encounter? Had Chichiri returned and whisked her away? No, that couldn't be. For if he had, she would not find herself in the embarrassing position of being face down in a snow drift.

The cold of the snow sifted into her awareness. She had grown to detest the cold, but at that moment, it was having a numbing effect on the overwhelming agony. This was both a good thing, and a bad thing. If no one came for her, she would have to extricate herself out of the comforting snow or risk suffering hypothermia, and drifting off into an endless sleep.

The idea of succumbing to the growing need to sleep was tempting, but the little annoying voice of her conscious refused to let her lie down and die. There was still so much left to accomplish. She still had friends to save. Her mind flashed through the images of all her dead friends and family as she gritted her teeth and attempted to move again. She would not end up a mound of snow with a single stick to mark her passing like Noriko had. She would not let the past repeat itself! She would never lose to her enemies or fate itself! This little bit of physical agony was nothing when compared to the years she had suffered with the guilt of her friends dying because of her failures as a priestess the first time around.

A little shriek of pain tore from her throat as she shifted to bring her arms under her for leverage. As she inventoried her body, it appeared that one arm was broken, sprained or dislocated. Her left arm hung limply as she tried to pull it into a useful position. So, she used her right arm to push up. Instead of lifting her body, her arm pushed down into the light, powdery snow and made a creaking noise as the mass compacted. Finally, the snow solidified into a substance she could push against, and her torso rose an inch or two. The movement shifted her injured sides and back, which caused a lance of pain to spear through her. A quiet huff of air left her as she snorted gently while she thought, "I feel like I've gone a few too many rounds in a tournament. Wish Sensei was here to massage away all the aches." She also found a wish in the back of her mind that her Tamahome was here to collect her into his arms and whisper soothing words of comfort and love.

Then reality returned with a sickening growl. The sound echoed about in the trees, distorting the direction from whence it came. Something was coming, and it was growling. The sound was low, feral and made the hair on the back of her head stand up. Had she fallen into the territory of a wild pack of dogs?... wolves?... Ashtare? Wouldn't that just be her luck?

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Nearly a mile straight down from where the men descended, Chichiri rematerialized. He did a quick scan of the area to search for Mia's aura. Finding nothing, he quickly transported again, half-way between where he started and where he landed. He had to zero in on her location before that brute found her. When he stepped out of the next shadow, his senses detected her aura farther down the slope. He continued this hopping back and forth until he knew exactly where she was. The only problem was that he could also tell that Ashtare was drawing close in the other direction.

Chichiri materialized in a slight clearing from a fallen tree, surrounded by smaller trees that attempted to grow into the old trees opening. His eyes followed the trail of disturbed snow to stop at a slight brown and orange lump near the small trees. His breath hitched, happy he had found her before the beast, but again afraid of her condition. In less than a heartbeat he was sprinting towards her and praying every chant he knew to prevent Ashtare from finding them.

Unfortunately, he must have been using the wrong chants, as once he was within calling distance, the feral Seiryu warrior broke into the clearing. Movement under the brown and orange blur distracted the wizard for a moment, as he watched her rise a bit. The wolf sensed the nearness of his prey and streaked across the intervening ground. It was going to be a close race, and Chichiri had no clue what he was going to do when he got there, other than protect this woman. There was no thought behind his movements, only blind instinct to place himself between the woman and the death that was rapidly approaching.

Time seemed to slow as the wizard watched Mia's face grimace then react to the growl from the wolf-man. He could see the pure fear in her pained eyes and knew he never wanted to see that look again. She was too strong and caring to be placed in such fear. He would not allow it. With a challenging shout, Chichiri jumped over the cowering form and landed heavily on the other side of her. In a maneuver he had never attempted before, Chichiri almost instantaneously mimicked the spell Taiitsukun had used on him just moments before to send him on his way to save Mia. He changed it slightly so that hopefully, the beast would feel immense pain as he traveled between plains. Then, just as the claws were swinging to remove the blue-haired head from his body, the spell ignited. With a rush of air and a howl of indignation, the descending beast vanished.

Silence echoed in the clearing as the world seemed to hold its breath and wait for the next act of this strange play. The only unnatural sound was the heavy panting of the warrior who was doubled over at the waist, with his hands on his knees. He remained there as if he were expecting the spell to suddenly reverse itself and drop the fanged menace right back in his lap. Considering their opponent, it could very well have happened. As the silence stretched on, he relaxed a bit and stood up straighter. A small noise behind him drew his attention, and he turned to survey his priestess.

The first thing he noticed was the blood and scrapes on her delicate face. The helmet had saved her from most of the damage and probably a severe head injury. The orange scarf that she had tied around the neck flaps had actually secured the helmet in place for the whole trip. It would never fit properly again, as there was a massive dent in the left side of the domed metal.

The next thing he noticed was that her beautiful eye lashes were heavy with snow, and the powdery stuff was stuck to the left side of her face. No telling how long she had been exposed to the below freezing temperatures. He had to get her out of here and warm!

Carefully, he moved to her side and noticed the awkward way her left arm hung at her side. It was definitely injured. Then he noticed the source of the blood they had followed down the mountain. There were four even slash marks across her left leg, below the knee. Sluggish, dark blood oozed from the wound. He instantly removed his own orange army-issue scarf and moved to tie it around her leg.

Mia could only stare in shock at the appearance of her friend who threw himself before her imminent death. Then, just as suddenly, the threat was gone. What had he done? She had never seen anything like that before. If she hadn't already hurt so bad it made her want to pass out, she would have felt the familiar pain of her past changing again. Still, it was just more than she could handle at the moment, and her mind simply shut down.

Chichiri finished tying the make shift bandage, and moved to grasp her shoulders. With extreme care, he shifted her slightly so she could roll over to lie on her back. Then he spoke as he checked her for further injuries, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there when this happened. Where does it hurt? And don't try to lie and tell me it doesn't because I can see it in your eyes, you know? Can you ever forgive me?" He fussed over cleaning the blood off her face while he waited for a response.

A frown marred her brow as she whispered, "I can never forgive you." And Chichiri's heart froze in his chest. His eyes locked onto hers and his mouth hung open in disbelief. She then continued, "There is nothing to forgive. Silly! You can't be in two places at one time. You're not a god. You're just a man. A very, good, caring man." Her eyes twinkled slightly as a grin broke out on her split and bloody lips, "Wait, you actually can be in two places at once. Besides, you saved my butt from becoming a chew toy for a rabid wolf."

The breath Chichiri had been holding exploded out of him, and his whole body deflated as he slumped into a sitting position in the snow. He closed his eyes and exclaimed, "You are going to be the death of me, you know?" Behind him, farther up on the slope, they could hear the approaching soldiers shouting for them.

A mini avalanche announced the arrival of the five soldiers. The Sumo wrestler was almost an avalanche in his own right. Eguchi, the ninja healer, streaked straight to the fallen woman while the others fanned out searching for the beast. Assistant Suitani asked the question for all of them. "Where is the Seiryu assassin?"

Mia was the one to answer in a raspy, quiet, amused voice, "Chichiri sent him away. I hope he got send back to Nakago with his tail between his legs." With that information, the men relaxed a bit. Mia turned toward the healer but kept her eyes on her friend, "The short list of aches: slashed left calf, dislocated or broken left arm, several bruised or broken ribs, and a serious headache. Other than that, I'll live." Eguchi shifted closer to untie the scarf and remove her damaged helmet. They would have to find a replacement.

The healer checked over her head for lumps, and in her ears for blood. There were no signs of a concealed head injury. So, he simply started treating the visible injuries. Next to them, Chichiri's hands started to shake in the after affects of all the adrenaline. That had been way too close for comfort. He would have to rethink this whole mission. Surely, she could stay in the palace, under heavy guard, while he or the others trekked out to retrieve the other Shinzaho. This was just too much. The stakes were too high. He ran his shaky hand through his gravity defying blue bangs.

Mia was in pain, but she still registered the effects of this close call on her warrior friend. Of all the warriors, Chichiri was the most mature and second only to Hotohori in responsibility. Even though he tried to hide his serious nature behind his mask of silliness, she still knew how these types of events affected him. He would carry the emotional scar of this near miss for many years, blaming himself.

Behind him, the Assistant Lieutenant, Suitani, was organizing the men into gathering the necessary items to build a gurney to carry her back up the mountain. She truly regretted causing them more trouble, and the fear that the men back at the pass would get caught while they worried about her almost made her sick to her stomach. A thought occurred to her as she watched the men cut and strip saplings. "How is everyone else? Did anyone get seriously hurt?"

Eguchi hung his head and wondered if he should tell her. Finally he figured she would learn soon enough. His voice was quiet, "We lost three men and five were injured fairly seriously." The shock rippled through her body and mind. More good people died because of her. She just couldn't take it right now. So she closed her eyes and let the world fade away.

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End file.
